“Writing opera feels like an expedition,” says Mary Finsterer ahead of the premiere of her latest creation. “You’re a scientist, an archaeologist, a dreamer."

Joan Lindsay’s 1967 novel Picnic at Hanging Rock transformed into an electrifying post-modern ripping yarn.

A Julian Assange bio-play, Du Maurier's The Birds, a Trojan epic – and ticket prices "lowered across the board".

Australian classics reimagined; Joanna Murray-Smith returns to Patricia Highsmith; two recent Melbourne hits included in the calendar.

A giddy-making hayride of a show, Belvoir adapts Bulgakov’s novel with the kind of reckless creativity we imagine was required to write it in the first place.

A fascinating contemporary Australian opera inspired by Renaissance music and a true Renaissance Man.

Mary Finsterer's heart-stoppingly beautiful new opera is endlessly absorbing, sonically and visually.

Mary Finsterer takes us on a journey through time and space in her new opera Antarctica.

The world premiere of this new Australian opera – a work that prompts dread as well as wonder about humanity's relationship with the natural world – was an enormous triumph, artistically and logistically.

This month's features include profiles of Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake and didge virtuoso William Barton, an interview with Mary Finsterer about her new opera Antarctica, Dr Anita Collins on why music makes us feel so good, and Peter Tregear on the winds of change at Opera Australia.

A round-up of our recent news reports.

SCO will take a new opera by Mary Finsterer to Holland, and explore Britten at home, including a musical response by Luke Styles, with a creative team in residency for both works.