The new director of the Canberra International Music Festival, Eugene Ughetti, unveiled his program for 2025 at the Italian ambassador’s residence on Monday evening under the theme of Liberté.

Ughetti, who has succeeded retiring director Roland Peelman in the role, said: “International politics and contemporary culture troubles our ability to have difficult conversations and find compromise… leaving little space for the difficult and necessary work of listening.”

With that in mind, he said, he had sought to create a “thoughtful space” celebrating musical artistic expression.

His plan is to use a variety of venues over the festival’s five days, including Lake Burley Griffin, the Finnish Embassy, Canberra Glassworks, Snow Concert Hall and the National Film and Sound Archive.

The festival will open with a performance by the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, joined by the Flinders and Ellery Quartets, of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, alongside new works such as the world premiere of Richard Mills’ violin concerto.

Marking the 60th anniversary of Lake Burley Griffin, Five Short Blasts by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey will be performed on a flotilla of five boats crossing the lake.

Other highlights outlined by Ughetti included:

• First Nations artist Mark Atkins’ premiere of Mungangga Garlagula;
• Finnish musicians Paavali Jumppanen, Satu Vänskä and Erkki Veltheim, playing compositional works by Saariaho and Sibelius;
• MOSSO: music in motion, a day-long festival-within-a-festival at the NFSA;
• A troupe of renowned French pipers from Brittany, led by musical maverick Erwan Keravec performing their 8 Pipers for Philip Glass project.

Canberra International Music Festival, 2025, April 30-May 4.