Welcome to Limelight’s September edition. Seriously, if it was any more full, it would pop. 

Our cover story this month is dedicated to the premiere of Alice Topp’s first full-length ballet, Butterfly Effect, a contemporary story inspired by Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Deborah Jones talks with the busy choreographer about the one subject her work is always addressing – and it’s no spoiler to say it’s us: how we feel in love and loss; how we connect; how we deal (or not) with our imperfections. Composer Jessica Wells also explains how she has approached the score, which includes original music and some Puccini references.

One of the world’s most in-demand singers, Joyce DiDonato has found time to make her long-overdue Australian debut. Ahead of performances in Hobart and Melbourne, the American mezzo-soprano known for her musical versatility and her advocacy talks with Limelight Editor-at-Large Clive Paget about her love for Berlioz, the work she puts in to sustain her voice, and her unwavering commitment to opera – even if it is “insufferably stupid” at times.

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the death Dmitri Shostakovich, who died on 9 August, 1975. In September, over the course of nine days, three of our orchestras will present two of his greatest compositions – his Symphonies Nos. 5 and 10. Paolo Hooke talks with conductors Umberto Clerici, Donald Runnicles and Mark Wigglesworth about why Shostakovich’s music remains as vital and relevant as ever.

In Decolonising the Orchestra, First Nations writer Emily Thornton asks whether Australian orchestras and musical institutions are genuinely embracing Indigenous voices or paying lip-service? Tokenism, writes Thornton “maintains the illusion of progress while reinforcing the same hierarchies. True decolonisation means placing Indigenous voices at the centre of the cultural narrative, not on its margins.” It’s a must-read.

Also this month, Steve Dow talks with Australian soprano Celeste Lazarenko about her starring role in Pinchgut Opera’s upcoming production of Pergolesi’s Maid Made Boss and Jansson J. Antmann interviews Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen about his forthcoming tour and the multidimensional journey that led him to reimagine music education.

In our Cutting Edge column, American percussionist Steven Schick unravels the musical philosophy informing his residency at the Australian National Academy of Music and the thinking behind three sonically adventurous concerts. In 5 Questions For … Brisbane playwright Katherine Lyall-Watson unpacks her new play, Back to Bilo, the story the Nadesalingam family, Sri Lankan asylum seekers who hit the headlines after taken into immigration detention in 2018, inspiring a heartwarming grass roots campaign to bring them back to the small Queensland town they had come to call home.

In our Playing Up column, we speak to American-born musician Brian Maloney, Principal Percussionist with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, about his love for the vibraphone, and in our World Premiere column, conductor and composer Huw Belling reveals the thinking behind his new program for The Song Company, which includes a world premiere of his own music, written in response to a song by the 16th-century Catalan composer Mateo Flecha.

September’s My Music is a sit-down with Rob Mills, who has carved an impressive musical theatre career since graduating as heart-throb cum laude from Australian Idol in 2003. He recently joined the Board of the Australian Children’s Music Foundation and tells us why that’s so important to him.

And in this month’s Soapbox, Guy Noble pays tribute to Britain’s embattled National Health Service, which came to the rescue after he lost the top of a finger in a skirmish with a gate during a recent European holiday. It’s not for the squeamish. 

As ever, Limelight also has everything you need to know about this month’s must-hear music and must-see performing arts experiences.

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