"Multicultural Melbourne" - the 2026 Melbourne FAME Festival Concert

FAME, the Federation of Australasian Mandolin Ensembles is the patron of mandolin orchestra festivals held appoximately every 18 months in capital cities around Australia. The 2026 Melbourne FAME Festival will be held in January 2026 with musicians from mandolin orchestras in Perth, Brisbane, the ACT, Sydney and, of course, in Melbourne.

The players will spend a week intensively rehearsing under the baton of Stephen Lalor. Stephen, a renowned, mandolin virtuoso from Sydney, is also a talented composer and musical arranger and has also been commissioned to create a major work for the Festival Concert which will have its World premiere in the Edge Auditorium at Federation Square on Saturday 18th of January, 2026.

The program will feature music from various cultures as a representation of the Melbourne's multicultural makeup.