The Primrose Potter Salon is the baby sister of the acclaimed Melbourne Recital Centre at 31 Sturt St Southbank.
It’s a uniquely intimate 140-seat space for concerts and associated events and organisers have just announced 11 new shows for the Primrose Potter Salon in 2026.
Comprising a series of diffusing timber panels with tessellated plywood faces which tip in and out to form a modulated wall and ceiling, the Primrose Potter Salon can be set up in multiple formations including concert-mode, cabaret-mode with tables and chairs and in the round. Australian pianist/composer Percy Grainger believed ‘a melody is as free to roam through tonal space as a painter is free to draw and paint free lines.’ To illustrate this, Grainger’s 1937 graphic score, Free Music No.2 is inscribed across the timber panels, inspiring players and audiences alike.
The 2026 program includes performances and album launches spanning contemporary, classical and cross-genre practices, offering audiences an immersive and intimate experience in this intimate venue.
Check out the range of shows happening from July 1 this year:
• Waypeople – Wednesday 1 July at 7.00pm: Lovers of musical innovation won’t want to miss saxophonist and composer Jake Baxendale, uniting leading jazz voices from Aotearoa and Australia for Waypeople.
• Ṣaltanah – Thursday 2 July at 6:00pm: Cross-cultural traditions come to the fore with Camille El Feghali’s Ṣaltanah, reviving classical Arabic instrumental music.
• Emily Granger – Tuesday 7 July at 7:00pm: For an intimate and expressive solo work, harpist Emily Granger launches her new album A Thing of Beauty.
• Africubismo – Friday 21 August at 6:00pm: Cross-cultural traditions come to the fore with Africubismo, tracing the shared rhythmic DNA between West Africa and Cuba.
• Yitzhak Yedid – Thursday 20 August at 6:00pm: For an intimate and expressive solo work, Yitzhak Yedid draws listeners into an immersive piano world of texture, colour and emotion
• Charm of Finches – Saturday 10 October at 6:00pm: Sibling duo Charm of Finches bring their signature folk-pop.
• LIIT – Wednesday 14 October at 7:00pm: Melbourne trio LIIT also take the stage, with improvisation-driven sets that fuse contemporary jazz and layered electronics.
• Nat Bartsch – Saturday 7 November at 6:00pm: Nat Bartsch celebrates her tenth album with a characteristically reflective and powerful performance.
• Changing Wins Ensemble – Tuesday 10 November at 6:00pm: Rounding out this announcement, Changing Wilds Ensemble returns with their evocative blend of post-minimalism and art music.
• Peter Knight and TL;DR – Friday 13 November at 7:00pm: ARIA-nominated quartet TL;DR and Peter Knight deliver hypnotic, groove-based soundscapes inspired by Brian Eno and Jon Hassell.