Chamberfest's fifth and final concert expands into a mini orchestra for a Viennese-focused program centred on Richard Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder and a newly commissioned arrangement of the Rosenkavalier trio, performed by soprano Siobhan Stagg, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and soprano Rachel Fenlon at UKARIA Cultural Centre on Sunday 4 October 2026 at 6pm. The evening opens with soprano Rachel Fenlon performing selections from Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder, followed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold's String Quartet No. 2 in E flat and Gustav Mahler songs, with the concert now sold out but a waitlist remaining open.

Chamberfest wraps its season with its biggest undertaking yet: the core ensemble expanded into a mini orchestra for a program built around Vienna's great song and chamber traditions. It's a fitting way to close, given how much of the festival's identity rests on intimacy scaled carefully upward without losing its warmth.

The headline event is Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs), sung by Siobhan Stagg, paired with a newly commissioned arrangement by James Ledger of the trio from Der Rosenkavalier. Stagg takes on the role of the Marschallin for the first time in her career, a significant marker for any soprano working through this repertoire. She's joined by mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston as Octavian and soprano Rachel Fenlon as Sophie von Faninal, the trio at the heart of one of opera's most emotionally layered scenes.

The evening opens more modestly, with Fenlon performing selections from Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder, accompanied by pianist Jonathan Ware. It's an early-Berg work, still tethered to late Romantic lushness before his turn to atonality, and a smart way to ease into the program's Viennese throughline.

Quatuor Agate then takes the stage for Erich Wolfgang Korngold's String Quartet No. 2 in E flat, a work that shows Korngold's gift for lyrical sweep even in a purely instrumental setting. It's a solid centrepiece before interval, offering a change of texture from voice to strings.

After the 25-minute break, Charlston returns with Ware for a cycle of Gustav Mahler songs, before the evening builds to the Strauss and Rosenkavarlier finale. The full program runs around two hours, generous by Chamberfest standards, and reflects the ambition of closing the season on this scale.

Tickets were priced at $80 for adults, $75 concession and $40 for under 40s, but the concert is now sold out. A waitlist remains open for anyone hoping for a late release, worth joining given the calibre of performers involved and the rarity of hearing this particular Rosenkavalier arrangement live.

For those who've followed Chamberfest's earlier concerts this season, this closing night reads as the logical culmination: bigger forces, a signature operatic moment for Stagg, and repertoire chosen to showcase both solo voices and ensemble writing side by side.

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