CD brings you the latest in arts and entertainment news from around the Canberra region. Highlights this week include the new Chair of the NMA Council, 75 years of CSO and Celluloid Dreams on our screens.
Canberra Symphony Orchestra unveils landmark 75th anniversary program
Next year the Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO) will celebrate entertaining audiences for three-quarters of a century. In preparation, the CSO has released the highly anticipated 75th anniversary program.
The theme for the season is ‘Stories’ and explores the narrative power of music across multiple cultures and eras, says CSO Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Jessica Cottis. The program promises to captivate audiences and carry them through time, place and imagination with a rich tapestry of myths, legends, folk songs and sacred lore that has inspired classical greats and contemporary composers.
The program includes beautiful and moving major works from Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Holst, seven world premieres and compositions that honour traditional language and stories from First Nation Artists.
One of the world premieres is a commissioned work created by Canberra’s Christopher Sainsbury, that commemorates lost storytelling from the Dharug language. Another Canberra composer and pianist presents a world premiere as Sally Whitwell explores ghostly tales from around our region.
Heading back in time, audiences are invited to experience work by composer Peggy Polias which has been inspired by the mythology of Ancient Greece and the ruins of Pompeii.
Masters of storytelling hit the stage in Art of the Score: The Music of John Williams which features themes from blockbuster movies like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and more. A different kind of masterful storytelling is shared in Ravel’s Ma mere l’Oye (My Mother Goose) a joyful jaunt through the world of children’s folklore and beloved characters like Sleeping Beauty and Tom Thumb.
More than 70 performers take the stage in the largest-scale work of the season, Gustav Holst’s The Planets, an incredible seven-movement orchestral suite. Each movement is dedicated to a planet and its unique astrological character.
International guests include composers Elena Kats-Chernin and Peggy Polias, violinist Sophie Rowell and flautist Sally Walker, Soprano Sara Macliver, mezzo soprano Ashlyn Tymms, tenor Louis Hurley and bass baritone Christopher Richardson.
The season also includes four Llewellyn Series concerts, two Australian Series concerts, four Chamber Classics Concerts and one special event. Created for the enjoyment of the community, CSO is thrilled to share 2025 with its loyal Canberra audiences.
“As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we are thrilled to present a season that honours the past while embracing the future. Our 2025 Stories season is a testament to the enduring power of music to connect and inspire,” Ms Cottis said.
Find out more about the Canberra Symphony Orchestra programming; cso.org.au
Award-winning historian appointed Chair of Council at NMA
One of the country’s most celebrated contemporary historians is stepping into a new role and helping to shape how Australians interact with history. Professor Clare Wright OAM has been announced as the new Chair of the National Museum of Australia (NMA) Council, a role she says is an honour.
“I look forward to working closely with Council and the Museum’s amazing team of curators, researchers, guides and administrators to bring these stories – as well as international blockbuster exhibitions – to life,” says Professor Wright.
Professor Wright is currently a Professor of History and the inaugural Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University. She is the author of four historical works, including the bestselling The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka and You Daughters of Freedom.
The appointment of Professor Wright to the Council Chair alongside Katherine MacMahon who was appointed Director in February, is the first time in NMA history there has been a female director alongside a female Council Chair.
The Council plays a vital role in NMA operations and is responsible for the overall performance of the organisation. Responsibilities include setting strategic direction and establishing goals for the management team.
Not only an award-winning historian, but Professor Wright is also an author, broadcaster, podcaster and public commentator who has worked in the fields of politics, academia and media. She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2020 for services to literature and to historical research.
Serving on the Museum’s Council since October 2022, Professor Wright steps up to the role of Chair in late August when current Chair Ben Maguire AM steps down after 10 years.
“Clare’s appointment to Council Chair is well-deserved recognition of her already significant contribution, her standing as a historian, and her passion and dedication,” says Mr Maguire.
Also joining the National Museum of Australia Council are three new members: Professor Ann McGrath AM, Professor Megan Davis and Janine Freeman.
Keep up to date with the National Museum of Australia; nma.gov.au
Aria Award winning composer heads to Tuggeranong Arts Centre
Composer and saxophonist Jeremy Rose and his quartet present a jazz-infused night of music at Tuggeranong Arts Centre on Saturday 31 August.
Taking home a coveted Aria Award at last year’s ceremony for Best Jazz Album with Nightjar, which was recorded with The Vampires, another of Rose’s musical outfits. The composer and saxophonist is known for his gift for vibrant melody and musical curiosity with the Jeremy Rose Quartet being the cornerstone of his career.
The quartet features Steve Barry on Piano, Noel Mason on bass and Alex Hirlian on drums. Together their four releases Face to Face, Without and Without, Sand Lines and Chiba have received critical acclaim. Their work explores compositional ideas in contemporary jazz and has been heralded as state-of-the-art acoustic jazz (Australianjazz.net) and riveting improvisations from one of our best composers (Syndey Morning Herald).
Experience the Jeremy Rose Quartet at Tuggeranong Arts Centre on Saturday 31 August 7pm; tuggeranongarts.com
Classic films and Celluloid Dreams at Dendy Canberra
Cinephiles rejoice, for the first time in 10 years Dendy Canberra is bringing back 35mm screenings in their Celluloid Dreams program with a monthly screening until December.
Reminisce with your favourite classic films back on the big screen, the season offers a range of genres and shooting styles with influential works that have helped to shape the cinematic landscape.
The appeal of the 35mm is the depth that makes you feel like you could reach out and enter the world on screen; the colours are vibrant and the shadows more profound. Breathing with life, audiences are invited to experience films the way filmmakers intended as they lovingly poured themselves into their craft.
A story of legends, witness Russel Crowe as Maximus in his Oscar-winning performance in Gladiator. Watch another Aussie take on a character from the history books as Eric Bana transforms into one of Australia’s most notorious criminals in Chopper.
Running until December, find the details of Dendy Canberra’s Celluloid Dreams; canberra.dendy.com.au
The Poetry of Violence hits the stage
Known for his tragedies and timeless romances, William Shakespeare weaved acts of violence and cruelty into many of his works. Australia’s leading Shakespearean theatre company, Bell Shakespeare, shines a light on the poetry of these acts with In A Nutshell: The Poetry of Violence at Canberra Theatre Centre on 13-14 September.
Peter Evans, Artistic Director of the theatre troupe, takes audiences on a journey through some of Shakespeare’s most memorable depictions of violence. Exploring the renowned author and poet who questions humanity’s relationship with violence, an ensemble cast performs scenes and speeches that will move the audience.
Scenes of violence from plays such as Macbeth, Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar will have audiences enthralled. The second instalment of In A Nutshell is a comprehensive analysis of the portrayal of violence, the use of language, the limits of emotions and the rashness provoked by love and hate.
“It’s an unashamedly personal journey through scenes and speeches I love, focused on the various ways Shakespeare explores and defines violence. I’d encourage everyone, whether you’re new to Shakespeare or an aficionado, to come along and join us as we take a deep dive into Shakespeare’s concerns and preoccupations and the inner workings of the plays,” says Mr Evans.
See In A Nutshell: The Poetry of Violence at Canberra Theatre Centre on 13-14 September; canberratheatrecentre.com.au
From Hollywood to inventions, HEDY! comes to The Street Theatre
Science and the silver screen were intertwined for one Hollywood starlet, her story comes to Canberra in HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr at The Street Theatre on 31 August.
Shining the light on big ideas in science and hoping to ignite conversations about women in the field, the one-woman show was written by writer and actor Heather Massie. Also taking the stage in the solo role, Massie portrays 36 characters in the production including Hedy Lamarr, Jimmy Stewart and Bette Davis.
Born Hedwig Eva Kiesler, the Viennese-born actress was commonplace in Hollywood films from the 1930s to the ‘50s. Described as the most beautiful woman in the world, Lamarr was far more than just a pretty face. Acting by day, and by night she was an inventor, her most notable invention, The Secret Communication System, made torpedoes more accurate during WWII. Handing the patent to the US Navy, also known as the Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum Technology, it launched the wireless technology revolution that is used in mobile phones, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth.
Relating to the actress/inventor, Massie studied astrophysics with dreams of being an astronaut before discovering theatre. She now marries her love of science and art to tell the incredible story of Hedy Lamarr and uncover the truth behind the glamourous Hollywood star who invented a technology that powers so much of our world today.
A conversation with Heather Massie follows the show, thanks to a partnership with The Street, National Science Week 2024, Fullbright Foundation and Australian Science Communicators.
HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr lands at The Street Theatre on Saturday 31 August 7:30pm; thestreet.org.au
Canberra Daily would love to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.
