The concert opens with American composer Kenji Bunch’s rhythmic Groovebox, capturing the essence of New York City between dusk & dawn, before exploring the process of changing physical states essential to the production of mid-century art glass with New Zealander Rachel Clement’s Shifting States. The first half ends with Schnittke’s Trio, leading us to a furious moment of catharsis and then sublimating into thin air. The second half begins with Australian composer Stuart Greenbaum’s The year without a summer, evoking the 1815 volcanic eruption of Mt Tambora in Indonesia and contemplating the resulting upheaval for the community there, before Brahms treats us to moments of darkness and restless unease, bringing his Piano Trio No.3 in C minor to a close with an energetic and impassioned finale.