Schubert & Syrah
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Friday, 1 May 2026
6:00 pm
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Gandel Hall, National Gallery of Australia
Parkes Place, ACT 2600
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In Association with
Does music influence your perception of taste? Or flavour change your listening experience?
Flagship, high-end wines are the perfect collaborator for Kristian’s performance. Don’t miss this intimate, one-of-a kind experience.
Schubert & Syrah invites you into a rare multisensory encounter where sound and taste illuminate one another. Guided by virtuoso pianist and wine aficionado Kristian Chong, this intimate experience places Schubert’s final piano sonata at the centre of a curated journey through some of Australia’s most characterful wines, revealing resonances of character, emotional landscape and form.
Piano Sonata in B-flat major D960 embodies Franz Schubert’s late-style mastery. Melodies unfold with organic ease, harmonies expand gradually and the work’s spacious design feels both grounded and otherworldly.
The first movement’s long, singing lines and its famous low trill carry overtones of ironstone and mineral depth, reflected in the purity and finesse of Cullen’s biodynamic wines, particularly the fragrant balance of Grace Madeline. Vanya Cullen’s holistic approach to vineyard care mirrors Schubert’s organic unfolding of form, each phrase shaped by a deep sensitivity to nature, season and place.
The slow movement turns inward, its suspended intensity akin to the long, contemplative finish of a wine that holds both memory and mystery. Chalmers Falanghina is both complex and delicate, with savoury, volcanic depth, lifted exotic aromatics and bright acidity.
The scherzo’s quicksilver lift and velvety trio find kinship with Chalmers’ pioneering Mediterranean varietals. Col Fondo, an undisgorged traditional-method Aglianico sparkling rosé, is a cloudy, playful pink yet structured and lively wine, with softness drawn from lees character, a perfect pairing of fleeting and volatile energies.
The finale gathers these elements into a quietly resolute close, mirrored in the elegance and articulation of the wines. Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier, a Canberra District icon, is celebrated for its aromatic complexity and ethereal perfume, delicate rather than heavy, with a silky, gossamer texture and fine-grained tannins that invite both immediate pleasure and graceful ageing.
Kristian combines his passion for music and wine together to guide you through your own highly personal, multi-sensory journey.
Artist
Kristian Chong piano
Program
Schubert Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960
Wines
A selection of wine will be served during the concert to match the individual movements.
This concert is generously supported by Andrew Blanckensee and Judith Healy.
We are also grateful to our wine sponsors; Clonakilla (Canberra Wine Region), Chalmers Wines (VIC) and Cullen Wines (WA) for their generous contributions.
Duration: 60 min, no interval
Photo credit: John Tsiavis
ARTIST Learn more about the artist
Artist Kristian Chong
One of Australia’s leading musicians, YAMAHA artist and pianist Kristian Chong has performed extensively throughout Australia and the UK, and in China, France, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA, and Zimbabwe. He is in frequent demand as concerto soloist, solo recitalist and chamber musician.
As concerto soloist he has appeared with the Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and orchestras in the UK, New Zealand and China with conductors such as Andrey Boreyko, Nicholas Braithwaite, Jessica Cottis, Roy Goodman, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Nicholas Milton, Benjamin Northey, Tuomas Hannikainen, Marcus Stenz, Arvo Volmer and Marco Zuccarini. Highlights have included Rachmaninoff 3rd (Sydney Symphony), Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody in Beijing and Canberra (Canberra Symphony), and Britten (Adelaide Symphony). Recent highlights include Shostakovich 2nd, Brahms 1st, Rachmaninoff 3rd, Beethoven’s 3rd and Emperor in Melbourne, Ravel’s Left-Hand concerto with both the Australian Youth Orchestra & Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, Saint-Saëns 2nd & Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody with the Melbourne Symphony, and Malcolm Williamson’s 2nd with the Canberra Symphony.
Described by The Age as ‘a true chamber musician at work’, Kristian has collaborated extensively with musicians such as cellists Li-Wei Qin and Timo-Veikko Valve, violinists Vadim Gluzman, Rebecca Chan, Sophie Rowell, Dale Barltrop, Daniel Dodds, Jack Liebeck and Satu Vänskä, violist Christopher Moore, mezzo soprano Caitlin Hulcup, clarinettist Philip Arkinstall, baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes, (with whom he has recorded with ABC Classics) flautist Megan Sterling and the Australian String Quartet amongst many others. His festival appearances include the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Adelaide, Coriole, Huntington Estate, Mimir and Bangalow Festivals.
Other recent solo and chamber highlights include Oxford May Music Festival (UK) in May 2025 and the ‘Kristian Chong and Friends’ series at the Melbourne Recital Centre, in its thirteenth year in 2026.
Kristian studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Piers Lane & Christopher Elton, with Stephen McIntyre at the University of Melbourne and with Noreen Stokes and Stefan Ammer at the Elder Conservatorium. He is on piano and chamber music faculty at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
Photo: John Tsiavis