Nature the muse, mountains the stage
Tickets are now on sale for the globally renowned At the World’s Edge Festival this October, marking its fifth anniversary with a programme that explores the complex relationship between music and nature.
Set against the backdrop of the Southern Alps, the 2025 festival draws on the natural world as a source of creative inspiration. Explored through seven carefully curated performances and a series of free events, AWE Artistic Director Benjamin Baker has brought together celebrated chamber works, lesser-known pieces, and bold new compositions that highlight the many ways composers engage with nature, whether through vivid depictions of landscape and motion or more abstract reflections on the environment and our relationship to it.
This year’s line-up brings some of Aotearoa’s most acclaimed chamber musicians to Central Otago and the Southern Lakes, including pianist Michael Houstoun, cellist James Bush, and Composer in Residence John Psathas. They are joined by a cast of renowned international artists that features UK violinist Anthony Marwood, US violist Yura Lee and Australian harpsichordist, Erin Helyard.
The festival opens with a weekend in Wānaka and the world premiere of a newly commissioned string quintet by John Psathas, one of two new pieces commissioned for AWE 2025. Psathas will also mentor the festival’s Emerging Composer in the months leading up to the festival, continuing AWE’s commitment to nurturing new voices in Aotearoa chamber music. He joins a distinguished list of past Composers in Residence, including Eve de Castro-Robinson, Victoria Kelly, Gareth Farr, and Salina Fisher.
“As a festival rooted in the landscapes of the Southern Lakes, we’re constantly inspired by our surroundings,” says AWE Festival Director, Justine Cormack. “It’s a privilege to celebrate five years of extraordinary performances with artists and audiences who share our belief that music, like nature, can shift our perspective and stir something deeply personal.”
This theme also guides this year’s AWE+ series of free public performances, workshops and talks that extend the conversation beyond music. At Te Atamira, AWE’s festival hub, acclaimed architect Fred van Brandenburg will share insights into biomimicry and design, while Olympic freeskier Jossi Wells explores the parallels between performance, creativity, and the alpine environment. Te Atamira will play host to a keyboard focussed programme with works for both piano and harpsichord,with performances from Erin Helyard and Michael Houstoun.
Following the main ticketed performances, AWE continues with a week of school visits, during which AWE artists bring chamber music directly to students of all ages across the region. AWE also includes an Emerging Artists Programme, offering exceptional young musicians from Aotearoa the opportunity to perform alongside and be mentored by the festival’s world-class artists. This pathway lies at the heart of AWE’s values and its enduring commitment to supporting the next generation of classical musicians.
At the World’s Edge Festival runs from 4–12 October 2025, with performances in Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell and Bannockburn. The AWE+ series offers free events across all festival venues, culminating with a tour of schools throughout the district between 13-17 October.
For more information and tickets, visit www.worldsedgefestival.com
