The Update - October 18, 2016
Art Issue – 10 November
ABR will celebrate the launch of our bumper Arts issue with a special event at the Monash University Museum of Art (Caulfield) at 6pm on 10 November. Find out what the likes of Jacki Weaver, Leo Schofield, and Robyn Archer rated as the outstanding arts productions of the year. At this event we will also introduce our new ABR Laureate, who will join inaugural ABR Laureate David Malouf (2014). Please see our ‘Events’ page for more information. This is a free event but bookings are requested to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Women in Theatre
Applications are open for the Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2017 Women in Theatre Program, designed to give an emerging or mid-career practitioner insight into the inner workings of a major state theatre company. Twelve mentoring opportunities are available, encompassing all apects of theatre from playwriting and production, to technical operations and venue mangement, over a twelve-month period. Applications close Monday 31 October.
The Guarneri cello
The Australian Chamber Orchestra is the proud recipient of the most generous gift in its forty-one-year history; a cello made by Giuseppe Guarneri filius Andreæ in 1729. Donated by arts philanthropist Peter Weiss, the extremely rare instrument is valued at $1.8 million, and is used by Principal Cello, Timo-Veikko Valve, who said: ‘The inspiration I have received from the cello can be heard in my concerts and recordings all over the world. Looking back now I think I would be struggling without it.’ The Guarneri cello will be played by Valve in Perth on 19 October as part of the ACO Soloists concert.
Anna Bolena
Melbourne Opera will be bringing Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn) to the Athanaeum Theatre as part of a trilogy of Gaetano Donizetti’s Tudor Operas – the other two being Maria Stuarda, which ran last year, and Roberto Devereux, which will be presented in 2017. Donizetti’s tale of ‘love and betrayal, deception and desperation’ portrays Anne Boleyn’s downfall at the hands of Henry VIII in a more sympathetic light. Anna Bolena is directed by Suzanne Chaundy, and features Elena Xanthoudakis in the title role, Eddie Muliaumaseali'I as Henry VIII, and Sally-Anne Russell as the King’s mistress and future wife, Jane Seymour. See below for details of our giveaway.
Patrick White Literary Award
Novelist and short story writer Carmel Bird is the recipient of this year’s Patrick White Literary Award for her contribution to Australian literature. On receiving the award, Ms Bird said ‘Patrick White has been one of the key writers in my life ... first of all I fell for the plays, then the stories, then the novels which I began reading in the sixties. I like to believe his work has in many subtle ways affected my own.’ The Award has been bestowed to an author for the past forty-three years to an author who has made ‘an ongoing contribution to Australian literature’. Ms Bird will be officially honoured at the Patrick White Literary Award celebration at Readings Carlton, 309 Lygon Street, Carlton, Victoria on Friday 11 November 2016.
Melbourne Opera giveaway
Thanks to our friends at Melbourne Opera, ABR is giving away three double passes to the opening night of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at The Athanaeum Theatre in Melbourne on Wednesday, 2 November.
To be eligible for this giveaway you must be a current or new paid subscriber to the print edition of ABR or to ABR Online. To be in the running please email Grace Chang at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your full name and contact details. Preference is given to subscribers who have not received a giveaway in recent months.
Leave a comment
If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.
If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.
Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.