There’s a tension between accessibility and dilution that the arts world has long struggled to define. This month’s Limelight tunes into the artists and organisations navigating that tension – sometimes joyfully, sometimes with difficulty – as they seek new audiences and fresh relevance.

Perhaps no story better captures that tension than that of Eddy Chen and Brett Yang, the irreverent duo better known as TwoSet Violin. Through their viral YouTube sketches, in-jokes and affectionate satire, the pair have introduced millions of young viewers to classical music – many for the first time. But can comedy memes really coexist with serious musicianship?

The answer, as violist and writer Katie Yap discovers, is an emphatic yes. Beneath Chen and Yang’s freewheeling image lies classical discipline, deep musical knowledge and an almost evangelical zeal for the artform.

If some artists are finding new ways to connect, others are confronting an increasingly nervous cultural climate. In The Cost of Controversy, Samuel Cairnduff examines what political pressure, fragile leadership and precarious funding models mean for Australian arts organisations. The questions raised are uncomfortable but necessary. What happens when institutions become fearful of offence, backlash or donor anxiety? How much courage can organisations afford when public funding remains uncertain and private sponsorship increasingly influential? 

Theatre, meanwhile, continues to reinvent old stories for new generations. Award-winning writer and composer Yve Blake speaks with writer Lenny Ann Low about Mackenzie, her reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth for young (and young-at-heart) audiences. Blake – writer of the hit FANGIRLS – understands better than most the importance of gateway experiences; for her it was Baz Luhrmann’s kinetic Romeo + Juliet that first unlocked Shakespeare for her as a teenager.

That same spirit of accessibility is also evident in Jansson J. Antmann’s interview with Australian soprano Emma Pearson, who makes the case for us taking operetta seriously ahead of her debut as Hanna Glavari in The Merry Widow for Opera Australia. 

At this year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Artistic Director Jack Liebeck has programmed a concert, inspired by the Horrible Histories books and TV series, which will explore the demise of several composers. Running with the idea, Clive Paget suggests some prime contenders for classical music’s oddest demises: deaths by misadventure, foul play, disease, by friendly (and not-so-friendly) fire – and even by home surgery.

In this month’s World Premiere column, composer Anne Cawrse talks about transforming an epic poem about Louis XIV into a song cycle for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Ahead of dates with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the English violist Lawrence Power reflects on the luminous traditions of British chamber music in conversation with Steve Dow – who also speaks with award-winning playwright Jane Harrison about her new play Bennelong in London, premiering at Sydney Theatre Company with Googoorewon Knox in the title role.

Paolo Hooke talks to composer Alex Chilvers, pipa player Lulu Liu and harpsichordist Anthony Abouhamad about their Tang Suite, a new work inspired by ancient manuscripts discovered in China, and in our monthly Playing Up column, Linda Stuckey explains why the piccolo is such a dangerous instrument.

Reuben Kaye answers 5 Questions about his inaugural program as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, while Brian Kjim, multi-instrumentalist, neuroscientist, self-confessed over-committer and Head of Music Education at Penrith Conservatorium of Music in NSW, discusses his fascinating journey in this month’s My Music column.

Guy Noble takes to his Soapbox once again, this time to relive some of the more challenging gigs he played as young pianist providing background music for corporate gigs. As for all the latest in classical and performing arts news, the must-see-and-hear shows and concert experiences, and the latest in fresh recordings, books and films, look no further. 

The June 2026 issue of Limelight will be available online from Monday 25 May. Subscribe to Limelight by Sunday 17 March, 11:59pm AEDT to receive the print edition as soon as it’s available.

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