Limelight

11 August, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music, Orchestral, Vocal & Choral

Listen to the Australian Art Music playlist: August 2026 – New & Upcoming

Cameron Lam looks ahead to the latest and upcoming Classical, Jazz, and Sound Art releases across Australian in this month’s playlist.

10 August, 2026

Classical Music, News

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 2027: Celebrating the spirit of discovery

A cherished masterpiece by Mahler, a timely Beethoven celebration and 14 new MSO commissions – 12 by Australian composers – in the mix.

11 August, 2026

Opera

The high life: Maayan Licht takes singing to the extreme

The flamboyant sopranista brings Vivaldi, Handel and some extraordinary vocal fireworks to his Australian concert debut.

10 August, 2026

Classical Music, Orchestral

Willoughby Symphony Orchestra announces 2027 season

Orff's Carmina Burana, Respighi's Pines of Rome and Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto are just three of WSO's big guns in 2027.

11 August, 2026

Classical Music

Owain Park on cultivating a magic wishing tree

The Gesualdo Six's founder explains the ideas behind their latest album.

11 August, 2026

Classical Music, News

Baltic Grey Seals… classical music connoisseurs?

Estonian seal-watching cruises lure seals closer to view with classical music.

20 July, 2026

Classical Music, Vocal & Choral

High Guys

We trace the history of the soaring male voice from the 18th-century castrati to a reclaiming of some mezzo-soprano roles today.

20 July, 2026

Musical Theatre & Cabaret

It Takes Two

Directors Shannon Burns and Patrick Nolan lift the curtains on their new productions of the fairy-tale musical Into the Woods for two of our opera companies.

Contribute to Limelight and support independent arts journalism.

Become a supporter

Live Reviews

Theatre

Live Review

Review: Second Coming (La Boite Theatre & Playlab Theatre) 

We have a problem. An ambitious world premiere about a Mars mission fails to launch.

August 11, 2026

Opera

Live Review

Review: The Drover’s Wife (Opera Australia)

An epic Australian story finds lyrical expression through music, movement and commanding central performances.

August 10, 2026

Opera

Live Review

Review: Eugene Onegin (West Australian Opera)

Gorgeous voices and Tchaikovsky’s aching score overcome a slow and sombre beginning.

August 10, 2026

Musical Theatre & Cabaret, Theatre

Live Review

Review: A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical (Paul Dainty, Ken Davenport & Bob Gaudio)

Minor flaws aside, this show shines when Broadway star Will Swenson performs some of the 20th century's greatest hits.

August 10, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music

Live Review

Review: Attacca Quartet (ACO Up Close)

Precision, colour and imagination define Attacca's memorable interpretations of Shaw and Ravel.

August 9, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: A View from the Bridge (New Theatre)

New Theatre finds fresh urgency in Miller's masterful drama of desire, loyalty and betrayal.

August 8, 2026

Great Scotts: Music, science and memory

Playing music by Beethoven, Marais and Elena Kats-Chernin, Australian Haydn Ensemble's Skye McIntosh is set to unpack the story of the Scott sisters, Australia's pioneering nature illustrators.

7 August, 2026

Classical Music, Festivals

David Attenborough’s call to action comes alive with Camerata

Camerata – Queensland's Chamber Orchestra expands its forces for Brisbane Festival's immersive fusion of film, music and environmental advocacy.

4 August, 2026

Instrumental

Across Silence: Deaf artists reshape the orchestral experience

A new project from Orchestra Victoria and The Newmarket Collective deploys haptic technology to map sound on to the body.

3 August, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music, Experimental, Instrumental

Australian Accent – August 2026

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

20 July, 2026

Classical Music, Vocal & Choral

High Guys

We trace the history of the soaring male voice from the 18th-century castrati to a reclaiming of some mezzo-soprano roles today.

3 August, 2026

Classical Music

The joy of reconnection

The Adelaide-born London Symphony Orchestra violinist talks about coming home to perform with the Australian World Orchestra.

29 July, 2026

Film, Instrumental

Memento: Remembering differently

Hear My Eyes and Michael "CAVS" Cavanagh drum up a new score for Christopher Nolan's twisty noir.

14 July, 2026

Classical Music, Festivals

Sixteen hours of Bach: Calvin Bowman is organ music’s marathon man

By the end of his epic Brisbane Festival concert, Bowman will have explored virtually every corner of Bach's musical imagination.

Classical Music

Classical Music, News

news

Baltic Grey Seals… classical music connoisseurs?

Estonian seal-watching cruises lure seals closer to view with classical music.

August 11, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music, Orchestral, Vocal & Choral

features

Listen to the Australian Art Music playlist: August 2026 – New & Upcoming

Cameron Lam looks ahead to the latest and upcoming Classical, Jazz, and Sound Art releases across Australian in this month’s playlist.

August 11, 2026

Classical Music

features

Owain Park on cultivating a magic wishing tree

The Gesualdo Six's founder explains the ideas behind their latest album.

August 11, 2026

Classical Music, News

news

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 2027: Celebrating the spirit of discovery

A cherished masterpiece by Mahler, a timely Beethoven celebration and 14 new MSO commissions – 12 by Australian composers – in the mix.

August 10, 2026

Classical Music, Orchestral

news

Willoughby Symphony Orchestra announces 2027 season

Orff's Carmina Burana, Respighi's Pines of Rome and Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto are just three of WSO's big guns in 2027.

August 10, 2026

Chamber, Classical Music

CD and Other Review

Review: Silver Skies (Megan Sterling, Kristian Chong)

A century of French and Australian flute music persuasively played.

August 10, 2026

Opera

features

The high life: Maayan Licht takes singing to the extreme

The flamboyant sopranista brings Vivaldi, Handel and some extraordinary vocal fireworks to his Australian concert debut.

August 11, 2026

Opera

Live Review

Review: The Drover’s Wife (Opera Australia)

An epic Australian story finds lyrical expression through music, movement and commanding central performances.

August 10, 2026

Opera

Live Review

Review: Eugene Onegin (West Australian Opera)

Gorgeous voices and Tchaikovsky’s aching score overcome a slow and sombre beginning.

August 10, 2026

News, Opera

news

Sumi Jo receives the Maria Callas Special Award

Soon to perform in Australia, the Korean star has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to the world of opera.

August 10, 2026

Festivals, Opera

Live Review

Review: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bayreuth Festival)

Bayreuth invites Artificial Intelligence into the creative process. The result feels less like innovation than a dumping ground of overwhelming imagery.

August 3, 2026

Opera

Live Review

Review: Young Artists in Concert (Opera Australia)

Incoming and outgoing cohorts unite in a testament to the value of Opera Australia's Young Artist Program.

August 3, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: Second Coming (La Boite Theatre & Playlab Theatre) 

We have a problem. An ambitious world premiere about a Mars mission fails to launch.

August 11, 2026

News, Theatre

news

Ensemble Theatre launches 2027 season

The 2027 season reinforces Ensemble Theatre's distinctive position in the city's theatre culture with a blend of Australian voices with internationally acclaimed plays.

August 11, 2026

Theatre

features

The final frontier

Australian stage legends prepare to re-enact Robert Falcon Scott's doomed Antarctic expedition in Patricia's Cornelius's powerful drama about the dying of the light.

August 10, 2026

Musical Theatre & Cabaret, Theatre

Live Review

Review: A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical (Paul Dainty, Ken Davenport & Bob Gaudio)

Minor flaws aside, this show shines when Broadway star Will Swenson performs some of the 20th century's greatest hits.

August 10, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: A View from the Bridge (New Theatre)

New Theatre finds fresh urgency in Miller's masterful drama of desire, loyalty and betrayal.

August 8, 2026

Theatre

Live Review

Review: William Shakespeare’s Reservoir Dogs (The Ghostlight League & Theatre Works)

Tarantino's cult heist film gets a clever Shakespearean makeover, including with retro-meets-Elizabethan live band.

August 7, 2026

Dance

Dance, Opera

news

Ring Finale leads Palace Opera & Ballet’s 2026-27 season

Barrie Kosky's long-awaited Götterdämmerung, new productions from Netia Jones and Damiano Michieletto, and a wealth of opera and ballet stars headline the latest cinema season.

July 31, 2026

Dance

Live Review