Chamber music festival in the Southern Alps

QUEENSTOWN LAKES 
2–15 OCTOBER 2027

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The chamber festival pushing the thresholds of music: blurring, dissolving and entwining lines through masterfully crafted programmes, internationally acclaimed artists and awe-striking scapes. Thank you to everyone who joined us in the Southern Lakes of Aotearoa New Zealand for At the World’s Edge 2026.

At the World’s Edge is a chamber music festival in the heart of Aotearoa New Zealand’s mountain scapes. In October 2026, a collection of exciting national and international talent transported audiences through seven powerfully woven programmes in Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell and Bannockburn, with free community events throughout.

As Bounds and Bridges, the 2026 festival explored the line in all its human, artistic and natural dimensions: boundaries and pathways, connection and division, limits and thresholds. Across seven programmes, music crossed borders of time, geography and identity, asking what it means to hold a line, to cross it, blur it, and ultimately weave separate lines into something that could not exist alone.

More than a series of live music events, we are a platform for the arts in our region and a spark for creativity and connection to come. AWE returns 2–15 October 2027.

2026 Festival Performances

  • Silhouette of four musicians playing string instruments in front of a large window, with a cloudy sky outside, reflected on glass.

    1 | Crossed

    Sat 3 Oct | 4pm & 7pm
    Rippon, Wānaka

  • Close-up of a dark, wet moss-covered rock in a flowing stream or river.

    2 | Between

    Sun 4 Oct | 2pm & 5pm
    Rippon, Wānaka

  • 3 | Strung

    Mon 5 Oct | 7:30pm
    Te Atamira, Queenstown

  • Green leafy tree branches over a dark forest background.

    4 | Woven

    Thur 8 Oct | 6pm
    Cloudy Bay Shed, Cromwell

  • A woman playing a violin, seen through a glass window with reflections.

    5 | Radiance

    Fri 9 Oct | 7:30pm
    Te Atamira, Queenstown

  • Mountain range through glass

    6 | Unbroken

    Sat 10 Oct | 2pm & 5pm
    Coronation Hall, Bannockburn

  • Snow-capped mountain with brown, grassy hillside in the foreground and grey cloudy sky.

    7 | The Line

    Sun 11 Oct | 2pm & 5pm
    Te Atamira, Queenstown

Explore programme
Children watching a live classical music performance by a trio of musicians with violin, viola, and cello in a classroom or community center.

AWE+ IN THE COMMUNITY

Our community threads into the very fabric of the AWE Festival. We believe everyone should have the chance to experience classical music in New Zealand, to be woven into the adventure and to experience the most intimate moments of music for themselves.

Through AWE+, a range of free curated performances and events are open to the public, showcasing local and international talent so that one and all can experience a part of the AWE Chamber Music Festival in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Explore free events

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An indoor concert at Cloudy Bay Shed with a small audience watching two musicians playing string instruments, one on a violin and the other on a cello.

WHAT IS CHAMBER MUSIC?

Offering a new level of intimacy to live performance, chamber music is an interaction between individual voices. Written specifically for small groups of musicians, chamber music is designed to be performed, heard, and experienced in a close-knit, intimate setting, with the audience just as much a shared and active part of the experience as the musicians themselves.

Learn more