Classic Melbourne

The Australian Ballet: Flora
2026-03-12 19:30 - 21:15 (Australia/Melbourne) | Regent Theatre
Flora marks the fourth time the companies have joined forces, and in this first full-length collaboration, Bangarra’s signature storytelling style takes you on a journey through the evolution of Australian flora. An unmissable new work, Flora traces the profound influence of major historic and environmental events on both the landscape and its people.
From the sleeping yams beneath the earth, to the gums that breathe our air and stand proud over generations, flora is living witness to Australia’s unfolding history.
When the ships brought animals that trample and weeds that choke, flora endured. Through fire, flora renews and regenerates. The resilience of flora parallels the resilience of Australia’s First Peoples.
With distinctive choreography from Mirning woman Frances Rings, Bangarra’s Artistic Director and Co-CEO, an original score composed by Kalkadungu man and internationally renowned composer William Barton, dynamic costumes from Meriam Samsep woman Grace Lillian Lee, set design by Elizabeth Gadsby, lighting design by Karen Norris and Cultural Consultancy from Matthew Doyle, a descendant of the Muruwari Aboriginal nation.
Our most significant collaboration to date, with an ensemble of over 35 dancers drawn from both companies, Flora is a new chapter in Australian performance.
Journey through our living history in this unique dance experience.
12 – 21 March
Regent Theatre, Melbourne
TICKETS: $216 – $38

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents Stravinsky & Chindamo
2026-03-21 19:30 - 21:15
Prepare to use your imagination in weird and wonderful ways.

When French composer Maurice Ravel wrote his ethereal Pavane pour une infante défunte, he’d been dreaming of the long-lost melodies that may once have inspired a young Spanish princess to dance. Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring shares a French connection as it premiered shortly after in a Parisian theatre, but the story of this ballet music is much darker. It culminates with the raw and frenetic rhythms of a sacrificial dance, sounding wild enough to send audiences into an uproar at the first performance.
The musical tales on this program are centred around Are there any questions? – an Australian composition from MSO 2026 Composer in Residence, Joe Chindamo. It takes its name from the final line of Margaret Atwood’s chilling dystopic novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Hear Chindamo’s piece for the first time on this narrative-fuelled program. It’s music to leave you thinking deeply about the world you live in – and the worlds that live inside you.

Thursday 19 March 7:30 PM

Saturday 21 March 7:30 PM

Running Time 1 hour 45 minutes (including 20 minute interval)
Arts Centre melbourne, hamer Hall

TICKETS: Standard from $75.00; Concession* from $70.00; Child** from $20.00

Anna Lapwood (UK) live at Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ
2026-03-13 20:00 - 22:00 | Melbourne Town Hall, Corner Swanston and Collins Streets, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia
Acclaimed UK Organist Anna Lapwood makes her Australian Debut
Friday 13 & Saturday 14 March 2026
“She had rightly become “the world’s most visible organist”” New York Times
“Charismatic organist has a packed Royal Albert Hall eating out of her hand. 4-stars” The Guardian UK, May 2025
“Imaginative, open-minded and a brilliant musician, the organist and conductor Anna Lapwood is the dream ambassador for classical music.” Gramophone
“She is much more than a gifted organist, choral conductor and social media sensation… she’s a star on a mission” The Sunday Times
“Still only 29, she has become the hottest property in classical music: a media-friendly, globally popular ambassador for her instrument and the genre.” The Guardian July 2025
The City of Melbourne is proud to present the Australian debut of world-renowned UK organist Anna Lapwood, with two landmark performances at Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 March 2026.
Anna Lapwood MBE is one of the UK’s most dynamic ambassadors for classical music. As the first ever official organist of the Royal Albert Hall, she has broken down genre boundaries and introduced a huge new audience to the organ.
Anna has reached audiences far beyond the classical mainstream with her striking blend of musicianship, enthusiasm, charm, and eloquent artistry. In demand worldwide as concerto soloist and recitalist, she has attracted over two million social media followers and regularly connects with listeners as a presenter on BBC Radio, television and Classic FM.
In Spring 2025, Anna was included in the annual Sunday Times Young Power List, celebrating the 30 most powerful people under 30 in the UK. A recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Gamechanger award, Anna completed her transformational decade as Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge in August 2025 with an all-night BBC Prom at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Her role with the Royal Albert Hall has resulted in some of her most memorable pop collaborations, accompanying artists including AURORA, Bonobo, Florence + the Machine, and Raye, as well as actor Benedict Cumberbatch for Letters Live.
Her discography as an exclusive SONY Classical artist continues to grow, most recently with the 2025 release of Firedove, an album of original compositions and works freshly arranged for organ.
Don’t miss one of the world’s most exciting organists playing the Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ, considered one of the world’s finest instruments of its kind, for a very special concert experience.
Concert details:
Date: Friday 13 & Saturday 14 March
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Melbourne Town Hall, Corner Swanston and Collins Streets, Melbourne
Tickets: Trybooking.com

Christ Church South Yarra: Chasing Beauty
2026-03-22 14:00 - 15:00 | Christ Church South Yarra, 677 Punt Road, South Yarra, Victoria, 3141, Australia
‘Chasing Beauty’ Beethoven’s ‘5th Symphony’ and so much more

Embark on an exploration of beauty, longing, and transformation, as acclaimed Bass-baritone Nick Dinopoulos sings Samuel Barber’s haunting ‘Dover Beach’ and Schubert’s elegiac ‘Three Italian Songs’, then journey into Beethoven’s iconic ‘Fifth Symphony’, reimagined for string quintet by composer-in-residence Lee Bradshaw. this striking new arrangement draws listeners into the symphony’s intimate core, revealing colours and textures often hidden within its orchestral form.

Sunday 22 March 2026 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (UTC+11)

Christ Church South Yarra, Cnr. Toorak and Punt Roads, South Yarra VIC 3141
TICKETS: Adult – Full-Price Ticket $60.00 Full-price adult ticket; Concession $35.00 Reduced-price ticket for Concession Card holders
Student $25.00

Preston Symphony Orchestra – Gaelic Voices
2026-03-22 14:30 - 16:30 | Preston City Hall, 284 Gower St, Preston, Vic, 3072, Australia
‘Gaelic Voices’ presents three orchestral works inspired by encounters with Scotland and Ireland: Mendelssohn’s stormy Fingals’ Cave followed a visit to the coast of Scotland; Irish Isles Suite is a beautiful evocation by contemporary Dublin composer Ailbhe McDonagh of locations she knows well; Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony, which premiered in Boston in 1896, incorporates traditional tunes brought to North America by Irish immigrants. Enjoy a feast for the heart! The orchestra is conducted by David Le Guen.

Australian Chamber Choir: Bach B Minor Mass
2026-03-22 15:00 - 17:10 | The Scots Church, Corner Collins and Russell Streets, Melbourne
The B Minor Mass represents Bach at the height of his powers, synthesising his life’s musical experience into a timeless masterpiece that is a “greatest hits” of sacred choral writing. The Melbourne Baroque Orchestra joins the ACC to recreate Bach’s sound world. Don’t miss this spiritual, emotional, and intellectual journey.
Sunday 22 March 2026
3:00 pm – 5:10 pm
0452 531 750.Scots’ Church | Corner of Collins and Russell Sts, Melbourne
TICKETS: $26.50 – $86.50 |A Student (School Age) ticket is reduced to $0 when purchased with an Adult ticket and when the discount code FCWA is entered at the checkout.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents Quick Fix at Half Six: The Rite of Spring
2026-03-23 18:30 - 19:30 | Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Australia
Filled with exciting layered rhythms, rapidly shifting tempos and discordant harmonies, Stravinsky used The Rite of Spring as an opportunity to push his bold musical ideas even further.

It culminates with the raw and frenetic rhythms of a sacrificial dance, wild enough to send audiences into an uproar at the first performance.
Featuring a 15-20 minute presentation and a performance of the full work.

Monday 23 March 6:30 PM*

*Auslan Interpreted Performance: Sunday 23 March, 6.30pm
See Notes section for more details.

Running Time 55 minutes
Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall

TICKETS: Standard from $73.00; Concession* from $68.00; Child** from $20.00

Genesis Baroque & The Australian Boys Choir: J.S. Bach | St. John Passion
2026-03-29 14:00 - 16:30 | St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Brighton, 22 New St, Brighton, Vic, 3i86, Australia
J.S. Bach | St. John Passion
Genesis Baroque & The Australian Boys Choir
Directed by Nicholas Dinopoulos
28-29 March, 2026
Soloists:
Stella Horvath (Genesis Baroque 2025 Emerging Artist)
Michael Burden
Timothy Reynolds
Benjamin Glover
Oliver Mann
Nicholas Dinopoulos

BOOK NOW

It is just two weeks until the second installment of our three-year Passion Project, J.S. Bach’s astonishing St. John Passion. The boys of the Australian Boys Choir have been rehearsing tirelessly with Director Nicholas Dinopoulos, and the band and singers will come together soon to begin rehearsing Bach’s famed passion oratorio, based on the story of the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John. The words of British writer Robert Harris encapsulate one of the most powerful moments of this extraordinary work, unparalleled and with themes so relevant to today’s world:

Don’t miss this unique performance, bringing together the incredible energy of the young singers of the Australian Boys Choir, Genesis Baroque’s ensemble of some of Australia’s finest historically informed performers, and a lineup of magnetic soloists, all under the deeply sensitive, fiercely musical, scholarly direction of Nicholas Dinopoulos.
Performances
Saturday 28 March, 2pm | Ballarat Central Uniting Church
Sunday 29 March, 2pm | St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Brighton

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Melbourne Bach Choir St Matthew Passion
2026-04-03 14:30 - 17:30 | Elisabeth Murdoch Hall – Melbourne Recital Centre, 31 Sturt St, Southbank, Victoria, 3006, Australia
The Melbourne Bach Choir and Melbourne Baroque Orchestra conducted by Rick Prakhoff present the St Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach, sung in German. Two adult choirs, a children’s choir, two orchestras and outstanding Australian soloists will fill Melbourne Recital Centre with this extraordinary, dramatic telling of the Passion story, written to be performed on Good Friday.
The Choir’s 2022 performance of this work received a five minute ovation with The Age saying ‘a sterling interpretation of the long Bach Passion’ and Classic Melbourne claiming this ‘concert was a triumph.’
Andrew Goodwin again brings his beautiful high tenor to the role of the Evangelist. Adrian Tamburini will sing Christus, together with aria soloists Lorina Gore, Sally-Anne Russell, Henry Choo, Simon Meadows and Christopher Hillier.
From the darkly evocative orchestral opening Bach creates a narrative more compelling than that of any opera of the period. Sung in German, this extraordinary musical journey is the perfect reflection for Good Friday.
