By Helen Musa

The Australian National Eisteddfod is about to launch its 2026 season with Bands & Orchestras.

It brings more than 2500 performers together across 76 ensembles in one of Canberra’s biggest annual community music events.

Bands & Orchestras will be followed by Choirs in August after a six-year hiatus, then Singing, Piano and Speech and Drama events later in the year.

Opening at Melba Copland Secondary School College with jazz bands, it will then shift to Llewellyn Hall for three days of concert bands, orchestras and the major Open Band sections.

A standout of the program is Friday night’s Open Concert and Brass Band sections, featuring 12 community bands from Canberra, Sydney and the Hunter Valley performing major repertoire at the highest level.

Among the headline ensembles is Canberra Brass, which will perform Mussorgsky’s Night on Bare Mountain in a demanding brass arrangement, alongside a tribute to long-serving tenor horn player Russell Smidt with his solo performance of A Time for Peace by Peter Graham.

Canberra City Band will premiere Ouroboros, a new work by Sydney composer Zoe Gougousidis. Ginninderra Wind Orchestra will present the celebratory Exultate by Samuel Hazo and the cinematic Jidai by Stephen Melillo, while Sydney’s Cameraygal Wind Symphony travels to Canberra to perform works including Danzon No. 2 and Grainger’s Colonial Song.

Throughout the weekend, audiences can expect a musical mix spanning jazz standard, film scores, classical favourites and contemporary hits.

All sections are non-competitive, with ensembles receiving gold, silver or bronze attainment awards, while a select number of platinum awards recognise exceptional performances, but the Eisteddfod’s mission is to encourage participation in the performing arts and foster confidence and creativity in performers of all ages.

The Australian National Eisteddfod Bands & Orchestras, May 21-24. Full schedule at nationaleisteddfod.org.au.