International Up Close: Beatrice Colombis

Italian-Australian violinist Beatrice Colombis is one of the most exciting young players in the country. In 2026, the Sydney-born, Berlin-based musician won first prize at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, along with the Audience Prize and the award for best performance of Salina Fisher’s Chasm – a work she brings to this International Up Close program.

Around it sits music of fire and tenderness. Grażyna Bacewicz, one of Poland’s most important composers and a fine violinist herself, gave secret concerts in wartime Warsaw. She is represented here by three miniatures, Stained Glass Window , Lullaby and Humoresque , and her Sonata No.2 for solo violin. Prokofiev brings his own Sonata for solo violin and a dark, searching first Violin Sonata written across the war years, while Beethoven’s bright, youthful first Violin Sonata adds a burst of sunshine. Together, they make a program that travels from the 1790s to the music of today.