Governor’s Gala 2026 Australian Festival of Chamber Music

Minister for Education and the Arts, the Honourable John-Paul Langbroek MP; representing Minister for the Environment and Tourism and Minister for Science and Innovation, State Member for Mulgrave, Mr Terry James MP; Member for Cairns, Mr Michael Healy MP; Cairns Regional Council Mayor, Councillor Amy Eden and Councillors; Deputy Director-General, Arts Queensland, Ms Kirsten Herring PSM; Australian Festival of Chamber Music Chair, Ms Mary Jo Capps AM and Directors of the Board; Executive Director, Dr Ricardo Peach; Artistic Director Mr Jack Liebeck and the Festival Team, artists and corporate partners; the many distinguished guests here this evening; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

I would also like to begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Cairns-Gimuy, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people here this evening, including special guest of the Festival, Yidinji Elder, Professor Henrietta Fourmile-Marrie AM.

My husband Graeme and I are delighted to be here for the inaugural Cairns season of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, and we are thrilled to see that it is already flourishing here in Far North Queensland.

At the same time, we acknowledge that the Festival needed to be strong and healthy to survive being uprooted and transplanted 347 miles north. That it is so robust, is due in no small part to the fact that, for 35 years, it was faithfully nurtured by the council and community of Townsville, enabling it to thrive and grow into Australia’s largest and most important celebration of chamber music.

As Patron, I am proud to extend double thanks – first to the city and people of Townsville for creating and supporting the Festival through those first 35 years and then to Cairns for giving this unique event the opportunity to grow even stronger.

Moving an entire operation of any kind from one city to another is no small feat.

For a performing arts organisation, such a transfer involves a lot more than just securing a new venue; it means developing fresh relationships with funding partners and sponsors, and starting afresh to build the support and inspire the loyalty of a new community. It is challenging and exhausting work, yet the AFCM team has done just that. Congratulations!

Patronage of this festival has been a great privilege and pleasure. It’s a role I did not hesitate to accept when I was sworn in, five years ago, and I’m very pleased to have continued the tradition of vice-regal support established in 2005 when Dame Quentin Bryce became the first Governor of Queensland to accept the position of Festival Patron.

The Festival recognised the value of her commitment and passionate support3 by programming the very first Governor’s Gala that year, and it’s a tradition that has been proudly continued by all three of her successors since, including me, in a public declaration of support that sends an important cultural signal that this festival truly matters.

It matters because the music that it celebrates inspires and enriches our lives; it provides new experiences for both audiences and performers; it introduces the young to the power and potential of music; and it opens up the unexpected connections and endless possibilities of shared ideas and collaboration for us all.

I am thrilled that the Governor’s Gala can be presented in this beautiful performing arts centre5 which has done so much, over the past eight years to bring Australia’s and the world’s best performers and productions to Far North Queensland, including this wonderful festival.

Tonight, Graeme and I are very much looking forward to seeing the Marriage of Figaro as we’ve never seen it before – and as Mozart could never have imagined it, with a superb wind ensemble and just one extraordinary actress unravelling the manic plot and playing all the characters in just 60 unforgettable minutes.

I thank Artistic Director Mr Jack Liebeck and the AFCM for this perfect choice for the final Governor’s Gala of my term and wish you all an enjoyable evening and a fantastic festival.