Nicolas Altstaedt & Thomas Dunford

Presented by Musica Viva Australia

In 2026, Musica Viva Australia invites you to look forward to five concerts at Newcastle City Hall, featuring favourites and new friends. Read more about Musica Viva's Season 2026 program.

Cellist, conductor and creative visionary Nicolas Altstaedt is the kind of artist who makes music you thought you knew, new. In 2026, he brings his always exciting, always beautiful insights to music of the seventeenth century, with the help of lutenist Thomas Dunford, the charismatic ringleader of baroque superband Ensemble Jupiter. When these two international superstars team up for a night of musical mischief, anything could happen.

Be there to see this iconoclastic duo expand the horizons of early music. First, hear a bouquet of evocative masterpieces from the court of Louis XIV, pitting Marin Marais and his rival, Antoine Forqueray, against each other in a baroque play off. Then, discover more recent treasures from Arvo Pärt and Henri Duparc, and experience the enduring beauty of Bach.

ARTISTS
Nicolas Altstadt cello
Thomas Dunford lute

PROGRAM
Marais La Rêveuse
Forqueray La Leclair
JS Bach Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 (excerpts)
Forqueray Fêtes champêtres
Marais Le Badinage
Marais Les Folies d'Espagne
JS Bach Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011 (excerpts)
Pärt Spiegel im Spiegel
Duparc Cello Sonata in A minor: Lento
Forqueray La Buisson
Marais Les Voix Humaines
Marais Grand Ballet
Marais Le Tourbillon
 

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Running time 2 hrs, inc interval. Running times are approximate and subject to change without notice. 

All ages permitted.

Student Rush tickets only available in the hour prior to the concert from the Ticket Office. Proof of current study must be produced. 

Special thanks to Ensemble Patrons Bruce & Charmaine Cameron for their generous support of this tour.