The Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation has awarded $400,000 in grants supporting 19 performing arts projects to be developed or presented in 2027, as the organisation marks its 40th anniversary.

The grants were announced at a celebration at the UUSC Club, chosen in recognition of the Foundation’s late founder, Dr Rodney Seaborn, who was a member of the club.

Dr Rodney Seaborn. Portrait supplied

The Foundation received more than 100 applications for the 2026 grants, a 40 percent increase on the previous year. The successful recipients comprise 10 individuals, seven organisations and two Foundation Directed Grants, which are awarded at the Foundation’s discretion in recognition of organisations whose work reflects Seaborn’s philanthropic vision.

Individual grants will support projects and professional development across theatre, opera, music, puppetry and multidisciplinary performance. Recipients include opera singer Jack Bolton, who will undertake a Master of Opera Singing in Leipzig; conductor Melinda Hole, for international professional development and artistic exchange; and director Eugene Lynch, for his Melbourne residency while directing Victorian Opera’s 2027 production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Melinda Hole. Portrait supplied

Other individual projects include Patrick Cronin’s immersive work The Journey for young audiences; Jeremy Goldstein’s Spider Love, exploring working-class queer identity and belonging; and Alon Ilsar’s Cymbalism, which combines percussion, movement, interactive visuals and his custom-designed AirSticks instrument.

Organisation grants include support for Canberra Youth Theatre’s New Stories, Young Voices; Country Arts South Australia’s Ngarrindjeri-led production Kumarangk: Sisterhood; Ensemble Offspring’s regional tour of Bila’s Big Dance; and PYT Fairfield’s reimagining of its inaugural 1987 production, The Ratbags.

Alon Ilsar: Cymbalism. Photo courtesy Monash University

Sydney Chamber Opera received funding for the fully staged world premiere of Cathy Milliken’s The Raft, while the Sydney Opera House Trust will use its grant to support Kids Sensory Music Playtime, an accessible live music program for children with sensory and physical disabilities.

Foundation Directed Grants have been awarded to Australian Theatre for Young People, recognising its long-term contribution to developing young theatre-makers, and Australian Theatre Live, for its work recording and distributing Australian stage productions.

Foundation president Peter Lowry thanked the grants panel and the Foundation’s more than 1,000 Friends, whose support contributes to its ongoing work assisting the performing arts across Australia.

The anniversary event also featured composer and writer Steven Kramer and cast member Justin Smith performing Heartfrom Phar Lap – The Electro-Swing Musical, a Foundation-supported production. The show returns to Carriageworks in July 2027 before embarking on a national tour.