From institutional shake-ups to tales of artistic resilience, Limelight’s most-read feature stories of 2025 reveal a sector questioning its structures, celebrating its innovators and coming to grips with the cultural forces shaping Australia’s music and performing-arts landscape.
These are the 10 standout pieces on the people, the music and the moments of 2025 that really captured readers’ attention.
Curator Michael Dagostino and artist Khaled Sabsabi. Photo © Anna Kucera
1. Khaled Sabsabi, Creative Australia and the Fight for Artistic Freedom
Limelight correspondent Samuel Cairnduff took a timely deep dive into the controversy around Creative Australia’s decision to withdraw artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino from representing Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale and what CA’s action (and subsequent reversal of same) said about artistic freedom, institutional autonomy and political pressure in the Australian arts sector.
2. Wind Power: University of Melbourne’s Wind Symphony Hits the Road
Limelight spoke to Associate Professor Jaclyn Hartenberger ahead of the University of Melbourne’s Wind Symphony performances in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, airing music from 20th-century master Paul Hindemith and rediscovered works by Australian composer Katherine ‘Kitty’ Parker.
The University of Melbourne’s Cendrillon, Photo © Ben Fon
3. Cendrillon: A Cinderella Story for the 21st Century
A fresh take on Massenet’s Cendrillon, this story explored the University of Melbourne’s bold, contemporary staging of the classic fairytale – reframing it for a digitally obsessed age.
For director Johanna Allen, the enduring appeal of Cendrillon lies in its accessibility. “There’s something iconic about a fairy tale – you can latch onto it before you’ve even begun,” she told Limelight. “When you’re a student of opera, that’s a real gift. You might not know your Beaumarchais plays, but everyone knows Cinderella.”
4. Room for Everyone: The Melbourne Uni Program Revolutionising Access to Music
Limelight readers were drawn to this inspiring look at the Adaptive Music Bridging Program – a collaborative initiative breaking down barriers for musicians with disability, neurodiversity and deafness, and celebrating new pathways into music-making.
Opera Australia’s new Music Director Andrea Battistoni. Photo © Keith Saunders
5. A Line in the Sand? Inside Opera Australia’s Leadership Shake-Up
Peter Tregear’s insider take on the reshuffle at Opera Australia offered context and commentary on three major appointments at the country’s biggest opera company and what they signal for its future.
6. Benjamin Northey: Passing the Baton
A reflective profile on conductor Benjamin Northey as he stepped into his role as the first Professor of Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, sharing insights from his career and philosophy at the podium.
This piece transported readers to Tasmania’s arts scene, showing how the island’s isolation has become a creative advantage – fostering community, workshops and new performance opportunities that are drawing musicians and audiences alike.
The Tallis Scholars. Photo Jay Patel & Sydney Opera House
A classic ‘tap-on-the-shoulder’ story about Lachlan McDonald’s surprise leap onto the international stage with The Tallis Scholars – with minimal rehearsal time.
9. Guy Noble’s Soapbox: Musicals Australia
With the national opera company so heavily involved in producing musicals at the moment, isn’t it time for a rebadging of the organisation, asked Guy Noble?
Arts writer Steve Dow sat down with soprano Celeste Lazarenko as she prepared to step into servant’s garb as the wily maid Serpina, who schemes to outwit her boss Umberto in Pinchgut Opera’s production of Maid Made Boss.
Limelight‘s most-read theatre reviews
Limelight‘s most-read dance reviews
Limelight‘s most-read opera reviews
Comments
Log in to start the conversation.