Limelight

15 October, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music, Instrumental, Orchestral

Listen to the Australian Art Music playlist: October 2026 – Drift

Cameron Lam features movement and momentum in this month's playlist, looking at Australian Classical, Jazz, and Sound Art releases through the lens of drift.

16 October, 2026

News

Melbourne Recital Centre appoints new artistic leadership team

Iain Grandage becomes Chief Curator; Anna Melville joins the organisation as Head of Programming.

15 October, 2026

Opera, Vocal & Choral

Sir Bryn Terfel on the importance of listening and passing the torch

During his upcoming Australian tour, the great Welsh bass-baritone will be sharing his favourite music and the knowledge he has accumulated over 40 years in the spotlight.

15 October, 2026

Musical Theatre & Cabaret, News

Paddington the Musical to make Australian debut in Sydney in 2027

The seven-time Olivier Award-winning West End hit will open at the Capitol Theatre in September, with casting yet to be announced.

15 October, 2026

News, Opera

West Australian Opera’s 60th anniversary 2027 season revealed

Gina Williams-Ghouse’s new work Bilya joins Verdi’s Requiem in a season featuring four mainstage productions and a one-night-only Maria Stuarda.

30 September, 2026

Classical Music, News

Limelight Artists of the Year 2026: It’s time to have your say

Limelight subscribers are invited to nominate the three Australian and three international artists who have most inspired and entertained you this year.

21 September, 2026

Classical Music

Essential Organs

Virtuoso British-Australian organist Joseph Nolan traces his career and discusses recording the complete organ works of maverick French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan.

21 September, 2026

Classical Music, Vocal & Choral

Five Questions for Elizabeth Anderson

The Assistant Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Choir unpacks the many emotions of the choir’s Encores 2026 concert and album.

Contribute to Limelight and support independent arts journalism.

Become a supporter

Live Reviews

Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Hope & Bravery (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra)

US Conductor Jonathon Hayward reveals the full weight of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony.

October 16, 2026

Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Isata Kanneh-Mason in Recital (Sydney Symphony Orchestra)

Beethoven, Ravel and Dobrinka Tabakova anchor a showcase of Kanneh-Mason’s expressive range and technical assurance.

October 14, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: Catch as Catch Can (Empress Theatre & Old Fitzroy Theatre)

A superb cast makes light work of Mia Chung's knotty portrait of two working-class American families.

October 14, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Voyager (Australian String Quartet)

From spectral sound worlds to Beethoven’s cosmic fugue, the ASQ charts a voyage of extraordinary precision and intensity.

October 13, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Lully and de Lalande: Grand Motets for Versailles (Melbourne Baroque Orchestra)

Rarely heard music by Lully and de Lalande finds a fitting home in the resonant surrounds of a Melbourne church.

October 13, 2026

Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Triumph of the Spirit (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra)

A concert of superbly etched detail and fine singing by the TSO Chorus.

October 12, 2026

World Premiere: KOŁACZ

Despite feeling "a little bit excluded" from the world of jazz, violinist-composer Xani Kolac's new work for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival finds a sense of belonging.

7 October, 2026

Classical Music, News, Opera, Theatre

Introducing the November 2026 edition of Limelight

The human hand takes centre stage in a Limelight issue devoted to imagination, craft, rediscovery and reinvention.

14 October, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music

Rediscovering Pleyel

Ahead of concerts in Melbourne and Sydney, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Principal Bass Robert Nairn unpacks a world premiere 250 years overdue.

9 October, 2026

Classical Music

David Greco opens up on vocal technique, 19th-century style

The Australian baritone explains what listeners can expect of his Schwanengesang with Erin Helyard.

7 October, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music, Opinion

When does rediscovery become repertoire?

Perth is hosting Australia's first chamber festival devoted to music by women, with much of it being aired for the first time. But the real test, argues musicologist Stacy Olive Jarvis, lies in whether anyone performs it again.

1 October, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music

Australian Accent – October 2026

Your essential coast-to-coast guide to the Australian music being played on our concert stages this month.

21 September, 2026

Classical Music, Dance, Opera, Theatre

Read the October 2026 issue of Limelight

The October issue celebrates renewal, mentorship, musical discovery and the growing international presence of Australian artists.

21 September, 2026

Classical Music, Opera

Turning Heads

Laura Hansford talks about her new production of Bizet’s Carmen for State Opera South Australia, in which Don José is seen to fail as a human being rather than its heroine.

Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Hope & Bravery (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra)

US Conductor Jonathon Hayward reveals the full weight of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony.

October 16, 2026

Classical Music

CD and Other Review

Review: Johannes Brahms: Klavierstücke (András Schiff)

A great pianist and a great composer in their prime.

October 16, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music, Instrumental, Orchestral

features

Listen to the Australian Art Music playlist: October 2026 – Drift

Cameron Lam features movement and momentum in this month's playlist, looking at Australian Classical, Jazz, and Sound Art releases through the lens of drift.

October 15, 2026

Classical Music, News

news

Dover Quartet cellist Camden Shaw joins Sydney Con

The American musician and Curtis Institute teacher to take up senior cello role in 2027.

October 14, 2026

Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Isata Kanneh-Mason in Recital (Sydney Symphony Orchestra)

Beethoven, Ravel and Dobrinka Tabakova anchor a showcase of Kanneh-Mason’s expressive range and technical assurance.

October 14, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music

features

Rediscovering Pleyel

Ahead of concerts in Melbourne and Sydney, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra Principal Bass Robert Nairn unpacks a world premiere 250 years overdue.

October 14, 2026

Opera

Opera, Vocal & Choral

features

Sir Bryn Terfel on the importance of listening and passing the torch

During his upcoming Australian tour, the great Welsh bass-baritone will be sharing his favourite music and the knowledge he has accumulated over 40 years in the spotlight.

October 15, 2026

News, Opera

news

West Australian Opera’s 60th anniversary 2027 season revealed

Gina Williams-Ghouse’s new work Bilya joins Verdi’s Requiem in a season featuring four mainstage productions and a one-night-only Maria Stuarda.

October 15, 2026

Opera

CD and Other Review

Review: Kurt Weill: Street Scene (Opera North)

Weill’s melting-pot masterpiece soars in Opera North’s live recording.

October 14, 2026

Opera

CD and Other Review

Review: Handel: Giulio Cesare (Christophe Dumaux, Louise Alder, The English Concert and Harry Bicket)

Bicket delivers a first-night Cesare that Handel would have recognised.

October 10, 2026

News, Opera

news

Hannah Burton tops IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition

The 25-year old soprano takes home Australasia's most prestigious classical voice prize for young opera singers.

October 9, 2026

Opera

Live Review

Review: The Spare Room (Victorian Opera)

This new adaptation of Helen Garner’s novel elevates ordinary life through Jane Hammond’s evocative score and the design’s overarching beauty.

October 8, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: Catch as Catch Can (Empress Theatre & Old Fitzroy Theatre)

A superb cast makes light work of Mia Chung's knotty portrait of two working-class American families.

October 14, 2026

Musical Theatre & Cabaret, News, Theatre

news

Les Misérables to make Sydney Opera House debut in 2027

Cameron Mackintosh’s acclaimed production returns to Australia for the first time in more than a decade, opening 40 years after its local premiere.

October 13, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: Next to Godliness (New Theatre)

This staging of the 2023 Silver Gull Award-winner reminds us that when it comes to the boys’ club, it’s women who have to clean up the mess.

October 10, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: Tartuffe (Raus & bAKEHOUSE Theatre)

Moliere's tale of fraud and gullibility gets a distinctly modern twist, though the comedy could use more air.

October 9, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: Waterloo (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

Bron Batten’s provocative exploration of love, war and left-wing values is compelling, if not always clear.

October 9, 2026

News, Theatre

news

Queensland Theatre Company turns up the volume for 2027 season

QTC’s second season under Daniel Evans spans Homer, Shakespeare, Miss Fisher, Sondheim and contemporary Australian theatre.

October 8, 2026

Dance

Live Review

Review: The Sleeping Beauty (Stuttgart Ballet)

Germany’s leading classical company brings its justly admired production of Petipa’s great ballet to Melbourne

October 11, 2026

Dance, News

news

West Australian Ballet 2027 season eyes past and future

"Our 75th anniversary is about honouring our past without being held by it,” says Artistic Director Leanne Stojmenov.

October 7, 2026

Dance

Live Review

Review: Bespoke (Queensland Ballet)

An agreeable evening of dance fails to live up to the challenge.

October 5, 2026

Dance, News

news

Melanie Lane appointed Lucy Guerin Inc artistic director

The award-winning Australian choreographer and performer "privileged to build on this enduring home for dance".

October 1, 2026

Classical Music, Dance, Opera, Theatre

news

The October 2026 issue of Limelight is now available

The October issue celebrates renewal, mentorship, musical discovery and the growing international presence of Australian artists.

September 21, 2026

Classical Music, Dance, Opera, Theatre

features

Read the October 2026 issue of Limelight

The October issue celebrates renewal, mentorship, musical discovery and the growing international presence of Australian artists.

September 21, 2026

CD And Other Reviews

Classical Music

CD and Other Review

Review: Johannes Brahms: Klavierstücke (András Schiff)

A great pianist and a great composer in their prime.

October 16, 2026

Opera

CD and Other Review

Review: Kurt Weill: Street Scene (Opera North)

Weill’s melting-pot masterpiece soars in Opera North’s live recording.

October 14, 2026

Vocal & Choral

CD and Other Review

Review: Mentor and Muse (Kitty Whately and William Vann)

Whately embodies the master’s voice and the women he inspired.

October 12, 2026

Opera

CD and Other Review

Review: Handel: Giulio Cesare (Christophe Dumaux, Louise Alder, The English Concert and Harry Bicket)

Bicket delivers a first-night Cesare that Handel would have recognised.

October 10, 2026

Vocal & Choral

CD and Other Review

Review: Crossings (Apollo5)

A joyous and insightful musical pilgrimage from Canterbury to Rome.

October 8, 2026

Classical Music

CD and Other Review