The July issue of Limelight is available now in newsagents and from our online store. Our cover star is the oft-imitated, never surpassed American composer Philip Glass, who celebrated his 75th birthday earlier this year.

ABC Classic FM’s Julian Day caught up with the founding father of minimalism in New York ahead of Glass’ performances in Melbourne.

We go behind the scenes of the Sydney International Piano Competition in its 10th incarnation and meet the victors and victims of the piano battlefield.

In our new opera column, Australian Heldentenor Stuart Skelton says opera companies around the world have turned a serious artform into a fashion shoot.

Limelight also spoke to world-beating maestro Daniel Barenboim about his inspiring West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which draws together young musicians from Israel and the Arab states and is set to perform all Beethoven’s symphonies at the Proms.

Closer to home, our finest conductors are being ignored by the major Australian orchestras. Following three state orchestras announcing big-name international appointments in the past few weeks (the Israeli Asher Fisch for WASO, the American David Robertson with the Sydney Symphony and Brit Sir Andrew Davis for the MSO), Limelight uncovers the Maestro Myth: why are Australia’s conductors overlooked by their own?

All this and more in the July issue of Limelight. Grab your copy here with free postage.