Welcome to the June issue of Limelight, your go-to guide to the best in classical and art music, theatre, opera and dance.

Our cover star this month is the always remarkable Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Ahead of her return to Australia for the first time in a decade (she’s touring with the Australian Chamber Orchestra), the mercurial Moldovan-born violinist tells Limelight Editor-at-Large Clive Paget why art needs “all your strangeness and differences” and why she likes asking uncomfortable questions as much as answering them.

No less experimental is the Sydney-based lighting designer and director Alexander Berlage, who talks to writer Steve Dow about his current projects – the Australian premiere of a musical that could do with his inspirational touch, and the world premiere of a new opera, commissioned by Sydney Chamber Opera.

Also this month, as part of an ongoing investigation into the state of the arts in Australia, Samuel Cairnduff explores the management of our arts organisations and explains why, in order to maintain a thriving arts industry, we need to rethink our cultural leadership and governance.

And it’s all aboard for another...