Omega Ensemble unveils 2026 season – Limelight
With a major world premiere on every program, Omega Ensemble brings a fresh, contemporary focus to its 2026 season.
Omega Ensemble (OE) has announced its 2026 program. With its hallmark blend of classical and contemporary works, the ensemble’s 21st year tightens its commitment to new music, with a world premiere from an Australian or international composer on every program.
The season kicks off with Starburst in Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne across 12–18 February, named after Jessie Montgomery’s bite-sized string orchestra work. As in 2025’s Elevator Music, OE has commissioned another Australian double concerto – Lachlan Skipworth’s A Turning Sky for trumpet and clarinet, with SSO Principal Trumpet David Elton and OE Artistic Director David Rowden in the spotlight. Rowden also tackles Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto, while Elton and pianist Vatche Jambazian show off their chops in Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings.
Howl, in Sydney on 2 May, presents an overview of the contemporary classical scene around the world with works from 2010 until now. Complementing a new work for string quartet and electronics by the LA-based French composer Daniel Wohl is music from Missy Mazzoli and Danny Elfman, and Australian premieres from Anna Meredith and Pierre Jalbert.
Touring to Newcastle, Melbourne and Sydney between 11–15 July, Inner Landscapes offers a different perspective on contemporary music. David Rowden will deliver the world premiere of Paul Stanhope’s first Clarinet Concerto; OE also performs the elegiac Soliloquy by celebrated American composer John Corigliano, Schubertr’s Death and the Maiden quartet and the Australian premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds.
Sirens takes to Melbourne and Sydney stages on 22 and 25 September, borrowing its title from a new horn concerto by English composer Anna Clyne. Premiering with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Principal Horn Nico Fleury as soloist, the program traces the mythical in music with a new arrangement of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune by Matthew Hindson, John Adams’s Gnarly Buttons clarinet concerto, and the Australian premiere of Joe Hisaishi’s Two Dances for Large Ensemble.
OE’s 2026 season closer is The Trout, featuring a brand-new, 20-minute work by South Australian composer Anne Cawrse, paired with Schubert’s effervescent Trout Quintet and French contemporary composer Guillaume Connesson’s Sextet, for a performance that celebrates “flux, movement and unstoppable energy” on 28 November.
In October, OE announced the rising composers that make up the 2026 cohort for its CoLAB: Composer Accelerator Program – Jessie Leov, Robert McIntyre, Thomas Misson and Beth Roche. Their works, guided by expert mentorship from OE and both Australian and international composers, will be premiered in OE’s New Now at ACO on the Pier on 14 August.
