Bryce Dessner is a vital and rare force in new music. He is an Oscar-nominated composer and has won Grammy Awards for his work in classical, with his band The National and for his film music. He is regularly commissioned to write for the world’s leading ensembles, from Orchestre de Paris to Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is in demand as composer in residence. He is also a high-profile presence in film score composition, with credits including Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.  

In 2027 Dessner presents his major new opera, Herakles Mad, in collaboration with author Anne Carson and visual artist Ragnar Kjartansson. Based on Carson’s book, H of H Playbook, the opera takes a contemporary look at Greek tragedy Herakles, by 5th century BC poet Euripides, and explores the equally contemporary themes of patriarchy, toxic masculinity, war and redemption. Co-commissioned by Theater Basel, LA Philharmonic, English National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, the world premiere takes place in Basel in May 2027.

Dessner also premieres a second important staged work in 2027, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, based on the ground-breaking book of poetry by Ocean Vuong. Further details on the world premiere and subsequent performances will be announced.

In the 2026-27 season there will be two album releases of large works by Dessner, firstly from violinist Pekka Kuusisto who, as global champion of the work, pairs Dessner’s Violin Concerto with a series of pieces inspired by the concerto, co-written with Dessner and produced by the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Jon Hopkins (Sony Music, autumn 2026). Secondly, pianist Alice Sara Ott releases Dessner’s Piano Concerto – herself the dedicatee of the work – plus solo piano works from Love Icebox, the conceptually staged program based on excerpts of the letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham. (Deutsche Grammophon, spring 2027). Dessner, Ott and French actress Isabelle Huppert premiered Love, Icebox at Paris’s Fondation Louis Vuitton in December 2025 and the work will receive its UK premiere at London’s Barbican in March 2027.

Further highlights of the season include Dessner’s artist residency with Sydney Symphony in September, which will see multiple works of his performed as well as Dessner appearing with the orchestra. Dessner also performs in concerts to celebrate Steve Reich’s 90th birthday, including at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and the Philharmonie de Paris.

Meanwhile Dessner’s high level film and TV soundtrack collaborations continue with a major new film for Netflix by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, with whom Dessner previously worked on The Two Popes. Dessner has also scored the forthcoming film, A Statement, by Oscar winner Tom McCarthy and which premiered at the New York Film Festival.

The 2025-26 season included composer residencies at Konzerthaus Berlin and with Czech Philharmonic, world premieres including that of his Cello Concerto, plus the soundtrack release to Train Dreams (Netflix). The score’s title song, co-written by Dessner and Nick Cave, received an Academy Award nomination in 2026 for Best Original Song.

Also in 2025 Dessner was the recipient of the Samuel Beckett Gold Medal from Trinity College Dublin, recognising his outstanding contribution to public discourse through the arts.

Dessner’s previous albums include: Solos (Sony Classical), showcasing his collection of solo instrumental pieces in collaboration with some of the world’s leading musicians; El Chan and St. Carolyn by the Sea (both on Deutsche Grammophon); Aheym, commissioned by Kronos Quartet; Tenebre, an album of his works for string orchestra which won a 2019 Opus Klassik award and a Diapason d’Or; When we are inhuman with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Eighth Blackbird (2019) and Impermanence (2021) with Australian String Quartet and which won the Libera award. 

Also active as a curator, Dessner is regularly requested to program festivals and residencies around the world, such as at the Barbican, Philharmonie de Paris, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, where during the 2023–24 season he was Creative Chair. Dessner currently co-curates the festivals Sounds from a Safe Harbour and PEOPLE Berlin, which returns for a new edition in October 2026.

Australian pianist Vatche Jambazian is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he completed his Master of Music following studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Australia, North America, Europe and Asia, appearing at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre, UKARIA and City Recital Hall Angel Place. His performances have been featured on WQXR Radio New York and ABC Classic.

Jambazian has collaborated with artists, ensembles and orchestras including Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Omega Ensemble, Australian Youth Orchestra, Nexas Quartet, Flinders Quartet and Orava Quartet, as well as Umberto Clerici, Andrew Haveron, David Greco, Lauren Fagan, Hyung Suk Bae, Emma McGrath, David Elton and Mayaan Licht. His repertoire spans the piano and chamber music canon, alongside a strong commitment to contemporary music.

He has premiered works by composers including Philip Glass, Caroline Shaw, Kaija Saariaho, Ross Edwards, Elena Kats-Chernin, Lachlan Skipworth, Andrew Howes, Alex Turley and Holly Harrison.

Jambazian has been featured in festivals including the Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Bangalow Music Festival, Adelaide Hills Summer Festival, Orange Festival and the Bowral Autumn Music Festival, where he has been Artistic Director since 2023. His other appointments include Principal Pianist of Omega Ensemble, and Lecturer in Piano at the Australian Institute of Music.

Originally from Australia, Sam Weller was one of six ‘designated winners’ of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam 2025, which saw him conduct ensembles such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Klangforum Wien and Orchestra of the 18th Century. 

Sam is enjoying a blossoming career in The Netherlands and Australia with recent debuts including the Tasmanian, Queensland and West Australian Symphonies and conducting Opera Australia’s 70th anniversary gala concert in Melbourne. Recently he also returned to the Adelaide Symphony and Noord Nederlands Orkest. In the past Sam has led performances with The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, PHION, Phil Zuid and a national tour of Die Zauberflöte with Opera2Day and LUDWIG Orchestra. 

Coming up Sam will return to the Royal Conservatoire, Den Haag to conduct performances of Britten’s War Requiem and, in 2027, he will lead the Melbourne run of Opera Australia’s production of The Magic Flute. 

Sam founded Ensemble Apex in 2016, which has been hailed as ‘one of the most exciting new ensembles on the Sydney scene’ (Limelight Magazine). The orchestra creates exceptional orchestral music experiences for newcomers and seasoned concert-goers alike. Apex has presented sold-out seasons since 2016, with highlights including Bela Bartok’s Miraculous Mandarin at Sydney Town Hall, Rhapsody in Blue with Simon Tedeschi, Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie and most recently a critically acclaimed production of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. In 2024 they launched Apex Festival supported by the Australian Government – a cutting edge new orchestral music festival in Australia. 

In 2022 Sam graduated from the prestigious National Masters of Orchestral Conducting in The Netherlands where he studied with Ed Spanjaard, Jac Van Steen, Kenneth Montgomery OBE and guest professor Antony Hermus. 

Sam is a guest lecturer and conductor at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Conservatorium van Amsterdam and Koninklijk Conservatoire - Den Haag.