Boyd Music Series 2027 brings six distinctive concerts to Bundanon, blending global musical traditions, contemporary sounds and chamber music beside the Shoalhaven River.
The road into Bundanon winds through a landscape that seems to encourage a slower pace of attention. On the south coast of New South Wales, the Shoalhaven River moves through a country of wooded hills, open paddocks and sandstone outcrops, its surface changing with the light. The surrounding bushland offers a sense of distance from the everyday rhythms of the city, even as the journey from Sydney remains achievable for a weekend away.
It is a fitting setting for a music program that asks listeners to pay attention not only to the notes being played, but also to the traditions, histories and conversations carried within them.
The Boyd Music Series returns in 2027 for its third year, bringing six concerts to Bundanon between February and November. Curated by Genevieve Lacey and developed in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House's Utzon Music Series, the program draws together Australian and international musicians working across chamber music, traditional forms, early music and contemporary experimentation.
The line-up moves from the familiar contours of European Baroque to Irish and Scottish musical traditions, then into dialogues between Anatolian and Indian music, piano and guzheng, and classical instrumentation and contemporary popular song. Each concert approaches music from a different direction, offering a broader view of how artists inherit traditions, reshape them and find new ways to communicate through sound.
Bundanon provides more than a venue for these performances. Its relationship with landscape, visual art and creative practice gives the series a wider cultural context. The experience of attending a concert here can become part of a longer encounter with the Shoalhaven, where time spent listening sits alongside walking, looking and being present in a different environment.
For 2027, the Boyd Music Series will unfold across six Saturdays, beginning with Quartet X on 6 February and concluding with Scottish piper and experimental musician Brìghde Chaimbeul on 13 November. Between those dates, the program traces a varied route through musical traditions that have travelled across generations and borders.
Boyd Music Series 2027 And The Art Of Listening
The central idea behind the Boyd Music Series is the meeting of distinct musical worlds. Rather than treating chamber music as a fixed tradition with narrowly defined boundaries, the program considers how artists can use established forms as a starting point for exploration.
Genevieve Lacey, the series curator, describes the 2027 musicians as artists whose imagination and courage lead them to take their traditions, instruments and collaborations into new territory. It is an approach that links the six concerts without making them sound alike.
Some performers work with music that has been passed down through generations, carrying the melodic patterns and storytelling practices of particular communities. Others reinterpret existing compositions or bring instruments together in combinations that are less frequently heard. Still others draw on electronic music, contemporary composition or popular culture to expand the possibilities of their craft.
These differences matter because musical traditions are rarely static. A tune can move from one region to another, acquire new meanings and change in the hands of successive performers. Instruments designed for particular cultural settings can enter unfamiliar partnerships, creating fresh relationships between rhythm, melody and tone.
The chamber music format is particularly suited to this kind of exchange. With fewer musicians sharing the performance space, the relationship between individual parts becomes easier to follow. A phrase introduced by one instrument may be answered by another; a melody can shift in character as it passes between performers. Listening becomes an act of following a conversation.
At Bundanon, the series places these musical encounters within a landscape associated with artistic practice and reflection. The result is a program that invites audiences to consider how music connects people to history and place, while remaining open to change.
Quartet X Reimagines The Modern Classics
Saturday 6 February 2027, 3pm
The opening concert sets the tone with a group interested in the meeting point between classical composition and contemporary popular music. Quartet X approaches chamber music as a living form, one capable of accommodating the sounds and references that shape modern listening habits.
The program moves from Michael Nyman's The Heart Asks Pleasure First, associated with the film The Piano, to arrangements of songs by Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Toni Watson, alongside new compositions written especially for the ensemble.
The contrast between these works offers a way to reconsider what makes music feel familiar. A popular song heard through a chamber ensemble may reveal details that are less apparent in its original arrangement, while a contemporary classical composition can share the directness, repetition and emotional immediacy often associated with pop.
For listeners, the pleasure may lie in recognising a melody and then hearing it differently. Rather than treating classical and popular music as opposing categories, Quartet X explores the possibilities created when they meet.
As the first performance in the Boyd Music Series 2027, the concert introduces a program in which musical traditions are not kept at a distance from one another. They are brought into conversation, with the possibility of surprise built into the arrangement.
The Haar Brings Irish Storytelling To Bundanon
Saturday 13 March 2027, 3pm
Traditional Irish music carries a close relationship with storytelling. Melodies move between celebration and sorrow, often conveying a sense of place and shared history without requiring words. The Haar draws on this expressive tradition, combining instrumental skill with a performance style that gives old material room to breathe.
The group's appearance at Bundanon offers a different kind of encounter from the opening concert. Where Quartet X moves between contemporary pop and classical composition, The Haar looks towards the continuing life of traditional music and the ways performers can give familiar forms fresh expression.
Irish music has travelled widely, carried by migration and adapted by communities far from its origins. Its tunes have accompanied gatherings, dances and stories, changing through performance while retaining traces of earlier lives. The Haar's approach reflects this balance between continuity and invention.
In the setting of Bundanon, the music's storytelling qualities may feel particularly suited to an afternoon spent away from the city. The landscape offers space for reflection, while the performance provides its own form of journey, shaped by melody, rhythm and the expressive character of the musicians.
The concert also points to one of the series' underlying themes: tradition is not simply something preserved in the past. It remains active whenever musicians interpret, share and reshape it for a new audience.
Melisa Yildirim And Swarupa Ananth Explore Musical Dialogue
Saturday 10 April 2027, 3pm
The third concert brings together Melisa Yildirim and Swarupa Ananth in a collaboration connecting Anatolian musical forms, Sufi rhythms and Indian melodies.
The pairing opens a conversation between distinct musical languages. Each tradition carries its own histories, structures and approaches to rhythm and expression, yet the meeting of musicians can reveal points of connection that are not immediately obvious when the forms are heard separately.
The duo's performance is described as spontaneous and exploratory, shaped by a shared contemporary vision rather than a simple presentation of separate traditions. The emphasis is on listening and response, with the possibility that a musical idea may change direction as the performers follow it.
Such collaborations require more than technical fluency. They depend on an ability to hear the intentions of another musician, recognise the character of a phrase and decide how to respond without losing the individuality of one's own practice. The resulting exchange can feel less like a fixed arrangement and more like a conversation unfolding in real time.
Within the Boyd Music Series, this performance broadens the program's perspective beyond familiar European chamber traditions. It also reflects the way music moves through cultural contact, carrying inherited forms into new creative relationships.
Piano And Guzheng In An Unusual Partnership
Saturday 19 June 2027, 3pm
The collaboration between pianist Paul Grabowsky and guzheng player Mindy Meng Wang brings two instruments with markedly different histories into the same musical space.
The piano is familiar to many listeners through classical music, jazz and contemporary composition. The guzheng, a Chinese plucked zither, produces a more fluid, resonant sound, with pitches shaped by the player's technique and the instrument's strings. Heard together, they create possibilities for contrasts in texture, phrasing and tone.
Their partnership is notable precisely because the instruments are not often encountered as a duo. Rather than relying on familiarity, the performance invites listeners to notice how each instrument occupies the space around the other, sometimes supporting a shared melody and sometimes creating a difference in colour or movement.
The pairing also reflects a broader interest in contemporary music: the willingness to move beyond established combinations and discover what new relationships might emerge. When artists bring distinct musical experiences to a collaboration, the result can challenge assumptions about which instruments naturally belong together.
At Bundanon, this concert sits midway through the series, offering a moment to consider how musical exchange can take place without erasing difference. The piano and guzheng retain their own identities, while the performance creates a shared language between them.
Les Kapsber'girls Revive The French Baroque
Saturday 7 August 2027, 3pm
In August, the Boyd Music Series turns towards the Baroque, a period when musical innovation flourished in European cities including Rome, Paris and Madrid. French quartet Les Kapsber'girls will make their Australian debut, bringing an approach to early music that combines historical research with influences from traditional and popular forms.
The Baroque repertoire is often associated with elaborate musical structures, ornate melodies and the instruments of European court and church life. Yet the music was also shaped by experimentation, changing tastes and the individual voices of composers and performers.
Les Kapsber'girls explore these layers through an interest in rare sources and overlooked musical voices. Their work combines attention to historical detail with a willingness to consider how early music might speak to contemporary audiences.
The result offers a reminder that music from earlier centuries need not feel distant. Its rhythms, emotional contrasts and expressive gestures can remain immediate when performers approach the repertoire with curiosity rather than treating it as a museum piece.
For the Boyd Music Series, the concert adds another perspective on the relationship between preservation and reinvention. Historical knowledge provides a foundation, but interpretation gives the music its life in the present.
The Australian debut also brings an international dimension to Bundanon's regional program, allowing audiences to encounter an ensemble whose work draws on European musical history while remaining open to influences beyond it.
Brighde Chaimbeul And The Future Of Celtic Music
Saturday 13 November 2027, 3pm
The final concert of the Boyd Music Series 2027 brings the program to a close with Scottish musician Brighde Chaimbeul, whose work connects traditional piping with ambient, electronic and avant-garde music.
Chaimbeul is known for her work with the Scottish smallpipes, a bellows-blown instrument related to the better-known Highland bagpipes. The smallpipes produce a softer, more mellow sound, allowing for a different musical atmosphere while retaining a strong connection to Scotland's piping traditions.
Her approach extends beyond the boundaries of traditional folk performance. Drawing on experimental composition and contemporary sound, she explores how an instrument associated with a particular cultural heritage can move into unfamiliar territory without losing its distinctive character.
This tension between continuity and change provides a fitting conclusion to the series. Across six concerts, the program has explored popular song, Irish storytelling, cross-cultural improvisation, unusual instrumental partnerships and historical European repertoire. Chaimbeul's music brings several of those concerns together, placing a traditional instrument within a contemporary creative landscape.
The performance also closes the series on a note of openness. Rather than presenting musical heritage as something fixed, it suggests that traditions remain meaningful partly because musicians continue to question, reinterpret and extend them.
For listeners who have followed the program throughout the year, the November concert offers a final opportunity to consider how different musical languages can coexist within a single cultural experience.
Bundanon As A Destination For Music And Art
The setting is an essential part of the Boyd Music Series. Bundanon occupies approximately 1,000 hectares of bushland and parkland overlooking Bangli, the Shoalhaven River, on the New South Wales South Coast. The property was gifted to the Australian people by artists Arthur and Yvonne Boyd, establishing a lasting connection between the landscape and the creative arts.
Today, Bundanon operates as a centre for artistic practice, education and research, with a public Art Museum and facilities that support exhibitions, performances and learning programs. The architecture and surrounding environment encourage visitors to consider the relationship between creative work and the natural world.
For concertgoers, the journey becomes part of the experience. Travelling from Sydney through the changing landscapes of the South Coast provides a gradual transition away from the density of urban life. On arrival, the river and surrounding bushland offer a different scale of attention, one that sits comfortably alongside an afternoon devoted to listening.
The Boyd Music Series is performed at Bundanon against the backdrop of Bangli / the Shoalhaven River. The landscape is not simply a scenic addition to the program. It provides a sense of place for performances that explore how music carries cultural memory, responds to its surroundings and creates connections between people.
The series also forms part of Bundanon's wider cultural offering. Visitors can explore the Art Museum, learn about the property's history and experience the relationship between architecture, art and the environment. Depending on opening arrangements and available activities, a concert visit can become an opportunity to spend more time with the place rather than travelling in solely for the performance.
Making A Weekend Of The Boyd Music Series
Five of the six Boyd Music Series concerts in 2027 will coincide with Bundanon's Stay Weekends, creating opportunities to extend a visit beyond the afternoon performance. The scheduled weekends are 6 to 7 February for Quartet X, 13 to 14 March for The Haar, 10 to 11 April for Melisa Yildirim and Swarupa Ananth, 7 to 8 August for Les Kapsber'girls, and 13 to 14 November for Brighde Chaimbeul.
Stay Weekends are intended to give visitors more time to experience Bundanon's landscape and cultural programs. Accommodation details for 2027 are expected to be announced in November 2026, so travellers should check the official website for availability and arrangements.
An overnight stay can change the rhythm of a cultural visit. Instead of arriving shortly before a concert and leaving soon afterwards, visitors have time to explore the surrounding area, enjoy a meal and experience the landscape at a less hurried pace.
For those travelling from Sydney or elsewhere in New South Wales, the South Coast provides plenty of reasons to make a longer trip. The region's towns, beaches, waterways and rural landscapes offer a different experience from the metropolitan environment, while Bundanon provides a cultural focus for the visit.
The practical details are worth considering in advance. Accommodation and concert tickets may need to be arranged separately, and visitors should check travel times, opening hours and any additional activities before setting out. Those who prefer a day trip can still attend an individual concert without making an overnight booking.
The series also offers a reason to return throughout the year. Each performance introduces a different group of musicians and a new musical perspective, allowing Bundanon to be encountered repeatedly rather than as a single destination.
Planning Your Visit To Boyd Music Series 2027
The Boyd Music Series will run from February to November 2027, with all six performances scheduled for Saturday afternoons at 3pm.
The venue is Bundanon Art Museum, at 170 Riversdale Road, Illaroo, on the South Coast of New South Wales. Visitors should consult the official event listings for ticket prices, availability, accessibility information and any changes to the program.
The concerts are presented in collaboration with Sydney Opera House's Utzon Music Series and curated by Genevieve Lacey. Bundanon members receive a 20 per cent discount on Boyd Music Series tickets, alongside other membership benefits. Ticket bundles may also be available, so it is worth checking the current booking information if planning to attend several performances.
Boyd Music Series 2027 Program
- Quartet X, Saturday 6 February, 3pm
- The Haar, Saturday 13 March, 3pm
- Melisa Yildirim and Swarupa Ananth, Saturday 10 April, 3pm
- Paul Grabowsky and Mindy Meng Wang, Saturday 19 June, 3pm
- Les Kapsber'girls, Saturday 7 August, 3pm
- Brighde Chaimbeul, Saturday 13 November, 3pm
Location: Bundanon Art Museum, 170 Riversdale Road, Illaroo NSW 2540.
Official Website: Bundanon Boyd Music Series 2027
Listening Beyond The Final Note
By November, the Boyd Music Series will have travelled through a broad range of musical traditions, from contemporary interpretations of popular songs to the intricate textures of Baroque music and the experimental possibilities of Scottish piping.
The six concerts share an interest in what happens when musicians take familiar materials into new settings. Sometimes that means hearing a well-known melody through an unexpected arrangement. At other times, it involves encountering an instrument or tradition that may be unfamiliar, then discovering the points of connection that make it meaningful.
At Bundanon, those encounters take place within a landscape that encourages a broader sense of time. The Shoalhaven River has shaped the surrounding country over generations, while the property itself reflects a commitment to the relationship between art and environment.
The Boyd Music Series does not attempt to reduce its different musical traditions to a single sound. Its strength lies in allowing their differences to remain audible, while giving each performance a place within a shared program.
When the final concert concludes in November, the music will have moved through six distinct expressions of creativity. What remains is the memory of the performances, the landscape around them and the possibility that a familiar instrument or melody might be heard differently next time.
For a series built around curiosity and exchange, that may be the most lasting invitation of all: to listen closely, remain open to unfamiliar sounds and recognise that music continues to evolve wherever people find new ways to share it.