Queensland (“finally!” some would say) put on its iconic best weather for the second Sunshine Coast Chamber Music Festival. The nights were cool – good for sleeping – and the days were sunny, warm and welcoming. Although the Festival is modest, with just four concerts and a pre-concert conversation over one weekend, it certainly is punching above its weight, complementing the beautiful weather with a captivating and diverse program, and feature-packed locations.

One of the Community Engagement concerts at the Sunshine Coast Chamber Music Festival, 2022. Photo © Barry Alsop Eyes Wide Open Images

By way of a kind of “preview”, held a few days before, and catering for staff and patients in hospital, as well as staff and residents in aged care – and their families – who would not otherwise be able to get to concerts, the festival came to them. Presented on 14 June in collaboration with Wishlist, two superb, free recitals, each offering the same program, were given by pianist, Francis Atkins, a Masters student at the Queensland Conservatorium, and violinist, Julia Hill, a former Concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra.

I attended the hospital...