CAIRNS— Young composer Sam Wu, who grew up in Melbourne and now calls Washington home, has been commissioned to create a major new musical work celebrating the 150th anniversary of Cairns as a city, with its world premiere to feature as a highlight of the Opening Night Concert of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) in 2026. The commission marks a significant double milestone: honouring Cairns anniversary and launching the first-ever AFCM to be staged in Cairns, ushering in a bold new chapter for the internationally acclaimed Festival.
The new work will be performed by Festival Artists including internationally celebrated pianist Piers Lane (born in North Queensland), AFCM Artistic Director and renowned British violinist Jack Liebeck, alongside Emmalena Huning, Stefanie Farrands, Julian Smiles, Lloyd van’t Hoff and Josh Batty.
Described as a cinematic soundtrack to Cairns, the work will be shaped by the city itself. Wu will draw inspiration from local artists, music students, landscapes and community stories, developed during a recent immersive stay in the region and meetings with the Mayor of Cairns.
Sam Wu is the first AFCM Emerging Composer-in-Residence, thanks to support from Music Australia and Creative Australia. The 2026 Festival program will also feature work from Sam’s past repertoire.
Wu has also been commissioned to create a new work specifically for the AFCM Fellowship Ensemble, through the Emerging Composers Program. This second commission forms part of the AFCM Pathways Program, and will be performed at AFCM 2026 by the Orpheus Quintet. The Quintet will tour the new work in Cairns, Mossman, Innisfail, Townsville, Charters Towers and Ayr ahead of the Festival. The composition will also be recorded and released, accompanied by a music video filmed on location during the Festival.
In the past week Sam has led school workshops at Trinity Anglican School and St Augustine’s College.
In yet another coup, Sam has been appointed an Ambassador for Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ). He will spend 7 days in the region, experiencing the Great Barrier Reef, rainforest and local culture, while engaging with schools and the wider community.
“Sam is a young composer of exceptional talent with a remarkable international trajectory,” said AFCM Executive Director Ricardo Peach. “His ability to connect place, people and story through music makes him the ideal artist to create a work of this significance for Cairns.”
Sam said as the inaugural Pathways Program composer he was delighted to be commissioned to write not one, but two pieces for AFCM!
“While one commission is tailor-made for the Orpheus Quintet, and the other for the Cairns Regional Council celebrating the city’s 150th birthday, both pieces are inspired by my recent visit to Cairns, a vibrant city where rainforest meets reef,” he said.
Wu has collaborated with leading orchestras and organisations across five continents, including orchestras in Philadelphia, Minnesota, Melbourne, Tasmania, Macao and Shanghai, the New York City Ballet, Cabrillo Festival and Sydney International Piano Competition. He holds degrees from Harvard, Juilliard and Rice University, and is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Theory and Composition at Whitman College in the United States.
“Hosting the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Cairns for the first time is a big moment for our city,” said Cairns Mayor Amy Eden. “To open the Festival with a world premiere created for this occasion makes it even more special, because it’s a celebration we can all share, while showcasing our city on a global stage.”
“As we mark 150 years of Cairns, this project is a meaningful way to reflect on where we’ve come from, where we’re heading, and to create something new that speaks to the people of Cairns.”
From 24 July to 1 August 2026, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music will unfold across Cairns over nine glorious winter-sun-filled days, presenting world-class chamber music against the backdrop of the World Heritage–listed Great Barrier Reef.
The full 2026 AFCM program will be announced on Monday 2 February, with tickets on sale to AFCM Friends the same day, and to the general public on Monday 2 March.
Australian Festival of Chamber Music: 24 July – 1 August, 2026
MONDAY 2 FEBRUARY: tickets on sale to AFCM Friends
MONDAY 2 MARCH: tickets on sale to the general public.
www.afcm.com.au | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | #afcm
AFCM is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and Arts Queensland; Cairns Regional Council; the Ian Potter Foundation; and the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.
Got a certificate in AI, took 20 hours, just kept tweaking it until it sounded ok.
Meanwhile Mein Trumpf offered to pay off Denmark’s national debt. Great idea. Fake art, fake money, fake everything.
Its great that someone who has spent their whole life living in Cairns got this gig…I mean it would be quite odd if someone who knew very little about the place was commissioned to celebrate it…wouldn’t it?
It would be an interesting read how much he is being paid to write this gig for the Cairns City Council .
I am curious what culture he will use for his masterpiece , will it be based on the mating sounds of salt water crocodiles as they thrash around in the shallows of Trinity Inlet or the grunts of cane toads out there in the cane paddocks .
They only culture I can remember of Cairns was the Marlin Bar and Barnacle Bills in its original location and the boat ramp in town .
There was culture on the Barbary Coast before the Hilton Hotel was built ,but that all got bulldozed to make way for progress that stripped the town of its identity .
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