Angklung joins carillon bells for Indonesian independence
Canberra’s National Carillon will ring out with an unusual blend of Indonesian and Australian musical traditions on Monday, August 17, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
Music
Nicolas Alstaedt on baroque cello and Thomas Dunford on archlute presented a "well conceived and superbly executed recital at the very highest level of artistry" for Musica Viva Australia at Llewellyn Hall, reviews NICK HORN.
The return of Bach Akademie Australia to Canberra since their memorable presentation at the Canberra International Music Festival in 2024 was an "entertaining dash of theatricality", reviews GRAHAM McDONALD.
LEN POWER reviews pianist Edward Neeman's Lunchtime Faculty Recital that was "a bit of everything - melody, drama, emotion and a hint of greatness".
Music
Young musical trio makes the national finals
Three of Canberra's brightest young musicians are heading to Melbourne later this month after becoming the only ACT ensemble selected for the finals of Musica Viva Australia's 2026 Strike A Chord competition, reports HELEN MUSA.
Music
Powerful opera pulls no punches in ‘Drover’s Wife’
The Drover's Wife, the first First Nations opera to be staged at the Sydney Opera House, was "like nothing else", reviews arts editor HELEN MUSA.
Music
Edwardes mesmerises with marimba magic
DAVID WHITBREAD reviews soloist Claire Edwardes's Dual Attractor Album Launch Tour performance where she mesmerised her audience for 70 minutes by creating "an almost spiritual atmosphere" from her five octave marimba.
NICK HORN reviews Channels, a "perfectly balanced presentation of documentary film and music", celebrating the life, practice and philosophy of artists actively engaged with the creative process late in life, by Liam Creswick and team.
Virtuoso pianist Edward ‘Teddy’ Neeman will become part of a move to restore the reputation of one of Australia's most gifted composers when he performs Frederick Septimus Kelly's unfinished Sonata in F minor in Canberra next week.
The late Canberra musician Michael Sollis will be posthumously honoured with the ACT's State and Territory Luminary Award at the 2026 Art Music Awards in Port Melbourne on Wednesday, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
In their first Australian visit and a Canberra debut at Snow Concert Hall, the storied Sitkovesky Trio delivered the Beethoven Piano Trio in D with "expression and panache", reviews SARAH BYRNE.
DAVID WHITBREAD reviews soprano Sonia Anfiloff and pianist Alan Hicks's "delightful" performance 'Eternity' for Art Song Canberra.
More than 400 performances by young pianists from Canberra, interstate and overseas, will fill the Wesley Music Centre when the Australian National Eisteddfod's Piano competition returns from August 15 to 20, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
Star Australian soprano Miriam Allan will return to Canberra next week with a Bach program that ranges from the moving to the comic, joined on stage by her father, baritone Christopher Allan, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
ROB KENNEDY reviews Woodsong, a performance by Robyn Mellor and Rodney Waterman highlighting the musical artistry of recorder music over 500 years.
Canberra troubadour and 2023 CityNews Artist of the Year Fred Smith will return to the Australian War Memorial with Unforgotten: Songs of Australians at War, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
LEN POWER reviews a captivating Australian Haydn Ensemble concert celebrating Bohemian composers whose music deserves far wider recognition.
More than 30 choirs from Canberra and neighbouring states will gather at Snow Concert Hall in Canberra Grammar School on August 8 for the 72nd Australian National Eisteddfod Choirs Event.
Two of Australia’s top recorder players, Robyn Mellor and Rodney Waterman, have embarked upon a project to show off the variety of music for the recorder repertoire in a concert at Wesley Music Centre, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
