The finalists and first-round prize winners of the national Strike a Chord competition for secondary students, now in its second year, have been announced by Musica Viva.

The semi-finalists for 2021 are Jason Henery, Tony Lee, Robbin Reza, Eliza Shephard, Benett Tsai and Edward Walton. 

The classical nominees at this year's AIR Awards are Andrew Blanch and Ariel Nurhadi, Ensemble Offspring, Richard Tognetti and the ACO, Jayson Gillham and the ASO, and Joseph and James Tawadros and the SSO.

The names of the 50 finalists for the APRA Professional Development Awards have been announced, including composers Connor D'Netto and Samantha Wolf, and musical theatre performer/writer Maggie McKenna.

The composers will spend two years with the Australian Composers' School, workshopping music with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Despite making redundancies last year, Opera Australia has posted a sizeable deficit. "It doesn't look pretty," says CEO Rory Jeffes, but he believes OA is now better placed to deal with further disruptions.

The new initiative to nurture aspiring choreographers has a cash prize of $10,000. The winner will also create a new work for The Australian Ballet's 2022 Bodytorque program.

The centrepiece of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's 2021 season, Part 2, is the ambitious, new Festival of Orchestra in November/December.

The Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras have both posted healthy surpluses for 2020 despite the considerable challenges faced due to COVID-19 restrictions.

German-Australian artist Kathrin Longhurst takes home the 30th annual Archibald Packing Room Prize, while Limelight cartoonist Peter Berner is also an Archibald finalist.

The 15-year-old Australian violinist has come second in the Junior section of the prestigious Menuhin Competition.

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra will perform Pudnanthi Padninthi at all concerts from now on.