Limelight

Independent, in-depth and intelligent, Limelight offers Australia's finest coverage of music, arts and culture. Inside each issue, we invite you to take a deep dive into at least four main features exploring the music, opera, theatre and dance sectors, as well as articles addressing the big issues facing the arts and entertainment industry. Additional interviews, reviews and opinion pieces are included in the Soundings and Coda sections. Plus, discover upcoming events across the country in On Stage, and schedule your at-home listening with On Air & Online, which includes ABC Classic, independent radio and online broadcast information.

Limelight

Contributors

On Stage

In the Limelight

Return to Oz • As the Australian World Orchestra celebrates its 15th anniversary, Christopher Lawrence talks to its founders, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Alexander Briger and CEO Gabrielle Thompson, who reflect on how it all began and finding the orchestra’s sound.

THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED • As well as releasing several highly original albums, Hildur Guðnadóttir has become the go-to composer for film and TV. She has now composed a new work for the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Clive Paget chats with the renowned Icelandic composer and cellist about her boundary-breaking career, while Cate Blanchett discusses the film Tár and their new theatre collaboration.

A Spaniard in Paris • Spain’s preeminent 20th-century composer, Manuel de Falla, was born 150 years ago. Albert Ehrnrooth explains how he forged a national musical identity that resonated far beyond his nation’s borders.

Aid or Adversary? • Could Al ever be as profound as Shakespeare? Should we fear it? Steve Dow talks with a number of academics and writers about artificial intelligence, where it might be leading us and whether they are prepared to embrace it creatively.

Curious Contradictions • Holly Harrison talks to Katie Yap about her love of nonsense and her new Concerto for Classical Accordion, composed for James Crabb and four of our orchestras.

What’s new on disc • This month we feature Samuel Hasselhorn in a Rolls-Royce Schubert recital, Mendelssohn from Leipzig, new music by Paul Stanhope and Carl Vine, and a Ring Cycle from Dallas.

Uphill, Both Ways • Australia’s ELISION Ensemble turns 40 this year. American writer Ty Bouque explains what makes it so special.

Jojo and Me • Charlotte Miles is one of Australia’s rising stars. Currently based in Germany, the 23-year-old cellist talks to Jo Litson about returning home to perform as a soloist with the Australian Youth Orchestra and at this year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

A HIP Swan Song • Australian baritone David Greco tells Jo Litson why it’s so satisfying to have released historically informed recordings of Schubert’s three major song cycles.

Going Cuckoo • Jason Donovan is to play the rebellious Randle P. McMurphy in an exclusive Melbourne season of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

The Inspired by James Inverne • This gripping novel explores the relationship between music and politics through the stories of three pianists, including Van Cliburn.

The Musicians • Grégory Magne’s film treats music, musicians and its audience with respect.

On Air & Online

ABC Classic concert program - July 2026

Independent radio & streaming - July 2026

GUY NOBLE’S SOAPBOX Fast and Funny • Guy Noble admits he’s not particularly keen to take the stage, so why is he presenting his show Guy Noble’s Very Serious Guide to Classical Music?

WORLD PREMIERE Forest, Ocean, City • Born in Melbourne and now based in the US, Sam Wu introduces his two commissions for this year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Cairns-Gimuy, where he is the Emerging...