It’s music all around as Canberra’s arts scene shifts back into gear – especially folk music, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.  

Folk aficionados are excited to hear that English musical legend Ralph McTell, best known for his 1969 song, Streets of London, is coming to town with his guitar and songs from his six-decade career. The show is called The Streets of Oz and, suitably, it will be at The Street, February 10.

We hear that John Shortis is in folk heaven at the National Library, researching 9-5 for four weeks under a 2024 Folk Fellowship. His project, Something Worth Fighting For, is about Australian protests and protest songs, and will result in a show.

Golden Guitar Award winners and ARIA nominated duo, Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley, will be in town as part of their Up, Down & Sideways tour, with guest Peter Chapman. Harmonie German Club, February 9.

General manager of National Opera, Stephanie McAlister, is moving on. McAlister, a trained singer, was at the helm of the company’s move to rename the previous Canberra Opera and spearheaded a move into greater professionalism. The company plans to stage Puccini’s classic, Suor Angelica, in March.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Richard Tognetti and director Jennifer Peedom have created a cinematic exploration of our waterways, River Live in Concert, which features narration by actor Willem Dafoe. Live music from Bach, Ravel, Radiohead and Tognetti himself, performed by the ACO. Didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton plays alongside a screening of the film, River. Canberra Theatre, February 7.

“Suite mágica,” the debut recording of guitar and harp duo Andrew Blanch and Emily Granger, is the basis for a showcase of this combination of instruments with masterpieces by Ravel and Granados, substantial works by South American composers Máximo Diego Pujol and Marco Pereira, and new works written for the duo by Elena Kats-Chernin, Sally Whitwell, Tristan Coelho and Ross Edwards. Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, February 8.

Canberra’s Lunar New Year of the Dragon will be celebrated in fine style with Sydney band Son Car performing. Local singers and the Prosperous Mountain Dragon and Lion Dancers will also join the festivities at the Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre, Lyneham, February 9-11.