UKARIA's Chamberfest presents Dead Poets Society on Saturday 3 October 2026 at 2:30pm, exploring the human voice across Schubert lieder, the Australian premiere of Dinuk Wijeratne's The Disappearance of Lisa Gherardini, and Rachel Fenlon's own poetry and composition. Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, sopranos Siobhan Stagg and Rachel Fenlon, pianist Jonathan Ware and Quatuor Agate perform across 1 hour 45 minutes including interval, with tickets from $40 (under 40s) to $80 (adults).

Chamberfest's second concert turns its attention to the voice itself, and what it can do that other instruments can't. Dead Poets Society, running 1 hour 45 minutes including a 25-minute interval, traces vocal storytelling from Schubert's lieder through to contemporary work, with an emphasis on the risks singers take when they open their mouths to communicate something true.

The first half sits squarely in the Lieder tradition, opening with Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade and other songs before shifting into genuinely new territory: the Australian premiere of Dinuk Wijeratne's The Disappearance of Lisa Gherardini. The piece takes the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa as its starting point, an odd and appealing subject for a chamber work. Quatuor Agate, who won the prize for best performance of this piece at the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition, bring real authority to the score.

Helen Charlston, the British mezzo-soprano headlining the program, is joined by sopranos Siobhan Stagg and Rachel Fenlon and pianist Jonathan Ware for a first half that moves between intimacy and drama without much room to breathe between the two.

The second half belongs to Fenlon. Billed as Rachel Fenlon's Mix: Echoes and Apparitions, it has her accompanying herself on piano while singing and reciting her own poetry, a format that puts composer and performer in the same body. It's a bold structural choice for a chamber program, effectively handing the second act over to one artist's own voice, literally and otherwise. The concert closes with Debussy's Ariettes Oubliées, reworked here in a string quartet arrangement that should give the songs a different weight than the usual piano accompaniment.

UKARIA's Chamberfest has built a reputation for pairing serious musicianship with programs that take a genuine curatorial risk, and this one fits that mould. Putting Schubert next to a 2022 competition-winning contemporary work next to a poet-composer's own material is not an obvious combination, but the thread running through all three, the voice as the most exposed and human instrument, holds it together on paper.

Tickets are priced at $80 for adults, $75 concession, and $40 for under 40s. The concert runs on Saturday 3 October 2026 at 2:30pm.

Details are correct at the time of publishing. Events can change or be cancelled, so please confirm dates, times and prices with the venue or ticket seller before booking.