2026 Festival Program

AFCM Concert Conversations begin each morning with Artistic Director Jack Liebeck in conversation with guest Festival artists, sharing stories and insights from their musical journeys. Each session is followed by a 45-minute performance, with tea and coffee served.

Tickets start from $30 for patrons under 30 years of age and $89 for AFCM Friends.

* Excludes bookings fees.

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SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

• Included in Gold and Gold Plus Subscriptions 
• Available for selection in Silver & Silver Plus Subscriptions 

AFCM International Public Masterclasses offer audiences a rare behind-the-scenes insight into the creative process, as AFCM Pathways Program participants work one-on-one with world-class Festival artists. Open to the public, these sessions explore interpretation, technique and musical storytelling in real time, culminating in a special Pathways Showcase concert on Friday 31 July at Bulmba-Ja, at 2:00pm.

AFCM International Public Masterclasses are FREE to attend and open to the general public, Seating is strictly limited.

Albert Einstein once said that if he were not a physicist, he would have been a musician. In this illuminating lecture, Professor Brian Foster explores the profound relationship between music and science, revealing how rhythm, harmony and imagination shaped Einstein’s thinking, and how music continues to influence the way we understand the universe.

Tickets start from $30 for patrons under 30 years of age and $41 for AFCM Friends.

* Excludes bookings fees.

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SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

• Included in Gold Plus Subscriptions Only
• Available for selection in Silver & Silver Plus Subscriptions 

Recharge your body and soul with the first of two baroque music concerts!

Tickets start from $30 for patrons under 30 years of age and $69 for AFCM Friends.

* Excludes bookings fees.

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SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

• Included in Gold and Gold Plus Subscriptions 
• Available for selection in Silver & Silver Plus Subscriptions 

This evening, we explore pivotal years in Cairns’ history. From 1770—the birth year of Beethoven and the year Captain Cook named the bay on which Cairns was eventually built—to music written in 1876, when the settlement became Cairns, and on to 1923, when it was officially made a city. These wonderful pieces put our new home into a musical perspective.

Tickets start from $30 for patrons under 30 years of age and $86 for AFCM Friends.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

• Included in Gold and Gold Plus Subscriptions 
• Available for selection in Silver & Silver Plus Subscriptions