Arts editor HELEN MUSA’s latest Arts in the City column. 

Former CityNews Artist of the Year Chris Latham will continue as artist in residence at the Australian War Memorial for a further three years, it has been announced. His focus will be on creating playlists and videos, ensuring recordings and sheet music are properly archived, and making them accessible via the AWM, Flowers of Peace and related websites, securing the material for the future.

The Canberra theatre community has done it again. After the summer lull, four productions will open within just two days, creating the kind of programming pile-up that frustrates seasoned theatregoers. The Street Theatre launches La Souris Blanche on February 18, followed on February 19 by Canberra Rep’s Bedroom Farce, Off the Ledge’s Never Closer and Lakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. In contrast, the music community has been successfully running an online calendar to help avoid future clashes.

Canberra Bach Ensemble opens its 2026 season with a program of Bach cantatas directed by Andrew Koll and led by Stephen Freeman at St Christopher’s Cathedral, February 14.

Accordion star James Crabb headlines a Valentine’s weekend concert, Accordion Dances, part of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s 2026 Chamber Series. The concert visits Renaissance Spain, baroque Germany and 19th-century Romanticism, Gandel Hall, National Gallery of Australia, February 15.

Art Song Canberra launches its 2026 Season of Song with soprano Amy Moore and pianist Edward Neeman in Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben. The recital is inspired by Hungarian composer György Kurtág – who turns 100 just days later – highlighting the continuing influence of Schumann on contemporary music. Embassy of Hungary, February 15.

The Gallery of Small Things, Wade Street, Watson, opens its first exhibition of 2026 alongside a newly reimagined exhibitions program, shifting from a shopfront gallery to a dedicated curatorial space. In the inaugural show, gallery owner Anne Masters pairs NSW painter Kiata Mason with Melbourne ceramicist Hamish Bassett, both of whom spent formative teenage years in Canberra. Until February 16.