Still To Come In Lane Cove Music’s 2026 Season

Lane Cove Music has been a stalwart of the Lane Cove cultural arts scene since 1946. Each year the organisation runs a curated concert series between March and November, showcasing performers across a range of genres and instruments, at their current venue, the church hall at St Andrew’s Uniting Church, Longueville, opposite Longueville Private Hospital.

In the Cove has enjoyed helping to promote Lane Cove Music’s events over the years. In 2025 we marked the 80th anniversary of the club with an article sharing the celebrations and also their rich history. Read it here.

Lane Cove Music is now well into its 81st season. Three concerts have already been held this year: Gilbert and Sullivan: A Comedy Opera World (10 March), Andrew Rumsey and Myee Clohessy performing Australian works (12 May), and Baker Boys Showcase Brass Brilliance (23 June). Three concerts remain.

August Concert: Tales from Afar – Australis Harp Duo

Program

• Celtic set: O’Carolan’s Concerto; Minstrel Boy; Brian Boru’s March
• Dance set: Gavotte, Minuet & Gigue by John Ecosa
• “Ye Olde” set: Pavane (Anon); Cantiga (King Alfonso X); Les Pins de Charlannes (Henriette Renié)
• Traditional Welsh set: Cambria by John Thomas/Meinir Heulyn
• Interval
• International set: Les Cerisiers En Fleurs and Colorado Trail by Marcel Grandjany
• Water set: On the Water by Monika Stadler; En bateau by Claude Debussy
• French set: Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel/Ecosa (Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant; Petit Poucet; Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes; Le Jardin Féerique)

The performers

Verna Lee made her solo debut at 14 and has since given more than 50 solo concerto performances, premiering contemporary Australian works and lesser-known harp concertos. She was a featured soloist with the Australian Youth Orchestra at the 1996 Adelaide Arts Festival, has recorded and performed Ann Carr-Boyd’s Fantasy for Harp and String Orchestra, and has appeared as guest principal harp with national orchestras and alongside international artists including Sumi Jo, Aled Jones, Il Divo and Tina Arena. She also appeared in the film The Matrix. Verna now directs the Sydney Harp Eisteddfod and teaches and lectures widely.

Azumi Lehmann is a Sydney-based freelance harpist who trained at the Sydney Conservatorium under Marshall McGuire. In 1996 she was selected for Leonard Bernstein’s Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, performing alongside members of the Vienna Philharmonic, and toured Europe and North America as principal harp with the Australian Youth Orchestra. She has performed with the Tasmanian, Canberra, Darwin and Sydney Philharmonia orchestras, played for numerous Opera Australia and Australian Ballet productions, and toured with artists including Mirusia, Anthony Warlow, Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham.

Sydney Eisteddfod Award Winners

Lane Cove Music’s October concert, on Tuesday 13 October, traditionally showcases the year’s standout young performers from the Sydney Eisteddfod, awarded through the Alf and Pearl Pollard Memorial Awards for Performance Excellence. Ten outstanding solo instrumentalists aged 13 to 15 are selected from across the 2026 Eisteddfod, with the concert serving as the Eisteddfod’s final event for the year. As the Eisteddfod is still underway, this year’s performers are yet to be finalised. We’ll share details closer to the date. Book here →

Beethoven & Friends: Le Basque Trio

Closing out the season on Tuesday 24 November, Le Basque Trio, comprising tenor Ben Oxley, horn player Robert Johnson and pianist Cheryl Oxley, will perform Beethoven & Friends, exploring over a century of music for voice, horn and piano, from the Classical elegance of Beethoven through the Romantic era to the twentieth century. Book here →