Sydney’s Orpheus Quintet named 2026 AFCM Fellowship Ensemble

One of the most prestigious opportunities for emerging Australian ensembles has just been awarded, with Sydney’s Orpheus Quintet named as the 2026 Australian Festival of Chamber Music’s Fellowship Ensemble. More imagery here

Hot off their success in this year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music’s (AFCM) 2025 Pathways International Masterclasses Program, where they wowed audiences in Townsville-Gurambilbarra, these five extraordinary young wind players – Kara Thorpe (flute), Gahyun Lee (oboe), Justin Wang (clarinet), Dylan Roberts (bassoon) and Jude Austen Kaup (French horn) – have been hand-picked for the life-changing Fellowship.

The Fellowship Ensemble program will see Orpheus Quintet swap the city lights of Sydney for the tropics of North Queensland, sharing their music with thousands of school students, bringing free concerts to regional towns, and finally stepping onto the stage of the internationally acclaimed AFCM in Cairns-Gimuy in 2026, performing alongside some of the world’s greatest chamber musicians.

The Quintet will also participate in the inaugural AFCM Emerging Composers Program. The selected 2026 Emerging Composer will be commissioned to create a new work for the Orpheus Quintet as part of their AFCM Fellowship program, which they will perform in the 2026 Outreach Tour, on the AFCM stage, and as a studio recording project.

Guided by mentors including AFCM Pathways Program Director and clarinet virtuoso Lloyd van’t Hoff, Pathways Program Manager Nick Duff, and Artistic Director Jack Liebeck, the Orpheus Quintet is about to embark on a year that will shape their artistry and launch their careers on the national stage.

AFCM Pathways Program Director Lloyd van’t Hoff said that amongst this year’s ensembles, the Orpheus Quintet stood out as the group most ready to take the next step.

“The Orpheus Quintet not only demonstrated a professional level of musicianship but also fully embraced the professional development opportunities and showed clear vision and ambition for their ensemble’s future. Importantly, they are high-level performers and generous colleagues and collaborators, making them both standouts for the mainstage, but as ambassadors for our outreach program,” he said.

AFCM Artistic Director Jack Liebeck said he was thrilled the Orpheus Quintet had been chosen as the AFCM Fellowship Ensemble for 2026.

“They so impressed us with their musicianship and skill during our Pathways classes and performances that I can’t wait to see how they develop over the next year. Featuring them in 2026 will give them huge impetus to go from strength to strength over the next year and I can’t wait to see how they perform and grow. I am extremely excited to be able to showcase their talent alongside our superstar musicians in the main Festival program from whom I know they will gain so much knowledge and experience.

Jude Austen Kaup from the Orpheus Quintet said it was a great privilege to be selected as the 2026 Fellowship Ensemble.

“AFCM is an exciting festival which pushes the boundaries of chamber music and we are looking forward to collaborating with other festival musicians and giving back to the local community through outreach, as together we help shape the future of chamber music in Australia,” he said.

“We formed while studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and were drawn together by our passion for wind quintet music. The Orpheus Quintet takes inspiration from the mythical Greek figure, Orpheus, a musician renowned for his storytelling ability and emotional sincerity. We look forward to doing just this throughout the 2026 year with AFCM.”

The future of Australian chamber music has never sounded brighter.