The Austrian and Ukrainian Embassies are delighted to bring their common coffee house culture and intertwined literary heritage to Canberra.

Join us for a morning of readings of literary works spanning 19th century authors from the historic Galicia region to contemporary Ukrainian poets, grappling with issues of identity and war. Enjoy the Austrian coffee specialties and Ukrainian pastries on sale for this special event and feel transported to a coffee house in Vienna or Lviv by the classical background music.

Violin - Tobias Aan

Tobias is currently based in Salzburg, recently completed a Masters at the Universität Mozarteum under Prof. Thomas Reif, and is enrolled in a Masters of Chamber Music as a member of the prize-winning Beija-flor String Quartet. Tobias performs as concertmaster/principal with ensembles such as Philharmonie Salzburg and Kammerphilharmonie Landshut, and regularly performs with Camerata Salzburg, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Cellist - James Monro

James performed as principal cellist with the Australian Youth Orchestra on their recent European tour. He performed chamber works with renowned artists as William Barton, Wilma Smith, and Claire Edwardes’ Ensemble Offspring. As a soloist, his performances of cello concertos by Lalo, Elgar, Dvořák, and Shostakovich have earned "wild acclaim," with Canberra City News hailing him as a "dynamo on the cello."

James studies with Rachel Johnston.

Violist – Alex Monro

Alex, performs professionally on both viola and harp. A violist in the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, he holds the 2025 ANU Whitworth Roach Performance Scholarship, is a Wesley Scholar, and was awarded the 2024 Musica Viva Strike a Chord Australian Prize, as part of a string trio. Performing with Apeiron Baroque, he “cut a confident and extroverted figure throughout” - Canberra CityNews.

Alex studies viola with Marianne Yeomans and harp with Alice Giles.

Image credit: Austrian Tourism Bureau