Jo Litson is the Editor of Limelight Magazine. She took up the position in late 2018 having joined the magazine as Deputy Editor in 2016. During a 35-year career as an arts journalist she has been a contributor to numerous publications including Limelight, The Australian, The Bulletin, and the Qantas magazine. She was the arts writer and theatre reviewer for The Sunday Telegraph for 12 years until 2018, and has written the labels for the Archibald Prize for the Art Gallery of New South Wales for over 20 years.
This month’s news round-up includes a name change for Melbourne Digital Concert Hall, the release of a National Cultural Plan to grow the post-COVID arts economy, and the announcement of a number of awards and fellowships.
Programming the 2022 Sydney Festival felt a bit like playing Kerplunk, given the pandemic, but Olivia Ansell is still in her element as the new Director, and believes the arts can help communities recover after a tough couple of years.
This new production doesn't always hit the mark, but it is inventive, audacious and imaginative, with three superb performances, and it certainly makes you see the play afresh.
Daryl Buckley, AD of ELISION Ensemble, and Alex Raineri, AD of Brisbane Music Festival, remember a private, gentle, inspiring young man, considered one of Australia's most promising composers.
Nicolette Fraillon fell into conducting dance, but she was quickly hooked by the artform. Music Director of The Australian Ballet since 2003, she guides Jo Litson through the history of ballet music, discusses the different kinds of collaborations between choreographers and composers, and wonders why ballet scores aren’t always given their proper due.
Olivia Ansell's first Sydney Festival includes stunning installations, music in boatsheds and at The Cutaway in Bangaraoo, musicals, outdoor theatre, a strong dance component and more.
OQ's 2022 season features two newly commissioned works, a classic, a regional tour and the return of the Studio Series and the Festival of Outback Opera, with a strong focus on women.
Features this month include summer reads for music lovers, the Limelight Artists of the Year for 2021, the transformation Simone Young will bring to the SSO, and Henry Handel Richardson's love of music and her treasure trove of songs.
From May, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will hit the stage in Melbourne in a newly reimagined, condensed play. Muggles who want to see the original two-play version need to get a wriggle on.
The Australian Ballet and Telstra have announced the finalists in the new award introduced to nurture aspiring choreographers.
Renowned as passionate, fiercely intelligent, formidable yet warm and caring, leading arts administrator Chrissy Sharp has died at the age of 70.
Shane Lestideau, Artistic Director and violinist of Evergreen Ensemble, tells Limelight about the group's collaboration with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for its digital platform MSO.LIVE.
Dean Bryant directs yet another sensational production for the Hayes Theatre Co with a brilliantly staged, moving version of Sondheim's musical.
