I am delighted to have this opportunity to introduce myself to all our friends and communities as the inaugural Dean of the new Faculty of the VCA and Music. I come to this important and challenging role from The University of Auckland where I was Founding Dean of the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries for five years and prior to that, Principal and Dean of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at The University of Sydney. Read more>>

The Learned Ladies and
The Bourgeois Gentleman
by Molière
The Classic Comedies season opens this Friday 29 May. Company 2009 and Production students present two plays by Molière, whose witty satires on social pretensions still bite deep in the 21st century. Both are hilarious plays in which thwarted love wins out. The visiting directors are Gary Down and Paul Weingott. Read more>>
29 May - 6 June
Performing Arts Building
28 Dodds St, Southbank
Cost: $20/$12
Bookings: email or 9685 9225
 

A stunning program of ensemble works will be presented by School of Music Southbank voice students. Directed by Stephen Grant (Lecturer in Voice, VCAM), the program will include Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd, with guest conductor Rick Prakoff and Claude Debussy’s Le martyre de Saint Sébastien – this 5-act sacred work will feature both larger and smaller ensemble groups with soloists. Read more>>
Wed 17 June, 7.00pm
Federation Hall, Grant Street
Southbank
Cost: $25/$15
Bookings: 9685 9423

This exhibition, curated by artist Elizabeth Newman, reveals some of the social bonds that exist behind the making of art work. Featuring: The Badiou Reading Group, Simon Boucher, Stephen Bram, Mutlu Çerkez, Maria Cruz, Lena Douglas, Mick Douglas, Rachel Douglas, Marco Fusinato, Neal Haslem, Neon Parc, Elizabeth Newman, Al Wunder and the Theatre of the Ordinary. Read more>>
29 May - 27 June
Opening 28 May, 6.00pm
Margaret Lawrence Gallery
40 Dodds Street, Southbank
Open Tues - Sat, 12pm - 5pm
 

As part of this year’s festival, two contemporary compositions by Dr Elliott Gyger (Lecturer in Composition, Parkville) and Dr Stuart Greenbaum (Head of Composition, Parkville) will be performed. The works, From the Hungry Waiting Country and Easter Island reflect the effects of climate change on landscape and oceans. Read more>>
Tues 16 June, 5.30pm
Contemporary Music for a Time of Change
Carrillo Gantner Theatre,
Sidney Myer Asia Centre
Free admission
Register at www.ideas.unimelb.edu.au

This winter season at Gasworks will showcase the talents of our second and third year dancers in new works by Lina Limosani and Carlee Mellow and remounts of Origami by Phillip Adams, Swarming Auras by Stephanie Lake and Passage Right by Sandy Parker. Read more>>
4 - 13 June
Tues-Sat at 7.30pm; Sat at 2pm
Gasworks Arts Park
Cnr Graham and Pickles Sts, Albert Park
Cost: $20.50/$15.50
Bookings: 9699 3253
 

The Horn of Africa Arts Partnership Project is a community cultural development program that brings together the Centre for Cultural Partnerships and the Horn of Africa Community Network Association. One of the public outcomes of this project is the mid-year showcase of theatre and digital stories. Read more>>
Friday 17 July, 6.00pm
Grant Street Theatre
Grant Street, Southbank
Free admission
Enquiries: 9685 9067

 

In its 26th year, the St Kilda Film Festival is internationally recognised for its curatorial strength and the momentum it gives to Victorian filmmakers and their careers. This year the representation of our Film and Television alumni in the festival is broad and abundant with many filmmakers making it into 'The 100 Top Short Films in Australia'. Alumni are also sitting on the judging panel, speaking at the forum, featured in SoundKILDA and in the Encore Comedy Session. There is also a retrospective on Adam Elliot's work which includes a screening of 'Uncle', made during his time at the VCA. Read more>> 

Featuring School of Music Parkville students, Chris Howlett (cello), Stefan Cassomenos (piano) and Jess Ipkendanz (violin), The Yarra Trio has played its way through the finals of the prestigious 11th Trio di Trieste International Chamber Competition in Italy, to win the North Trieste Rotary Club Special Award for their performance of a compulsory work by Italian composer Azio Corghi. Watch the Trio perform at Trieste.   The Yarra Trio will celebrate their success in recital on Monday 1 June at Melba Hall, The University of Melbourne. Tickets: 9685 5111 or m-tix
More details>>

This Winter we are excited to host Clem Martini, an award winning playwright and Head of Drama at University of Calgary. Clem Martini is a leader in social theatre and brings to the Faculty many years of experience writing theatre that deals with the issues of disadvantaged youth. He is collaborating with our Performance Creation students to develop a series of short dramatic texts and performances from a process of interacting with members of various communities in and around Melbourne. These include bushfire survivors, members of the Stolen Generations, single mothers of Ukrainian descent and refugees. Clem Martini is a visiting artist at the Faculty as part of the 2009 Simplot International Masterclass Series. Read more>>

The annual peer-based Green Room Awards are Melbourne’s premier awards recognising excellence on the Melbourne professional stage. At the recent ceremony, marking the 2008 theatre year, numerous VCAM alumni were nominated across a diverse range of areas. Our winning alumni included Mary Sitarenos, Luke Mullins, Brigid Jackson, Grant Cartwright, Ben Cobham, Danny Pettingill, Evan Granger, Cheryl Barker, Andrew Upton and Phillip Adams.
Read more>>

 

This exhibition, part of Evolution - the Festival, is the outcome of an interdisciplinary seminar at the Centre for Ideas. Students from the 'World in the Artist' subject and the University-wide Breadth subject 'The Poetics of the Body' worked together and with established artists to explore the earth’s physical aspects taking into account such things as its biodiversity, weather patterns and geological features, as well as mythological, cultural and political histories. Read more>>

22 May - 16 June

Domain House, Birdwood Drive
Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
Tues - Sun 11.00am – 4.30pm 

Come and find out about study options in Music, Visual and Performing Arts at the Faculty of the VCA and Music. An opportunity for prospective students to meet staff and talk to current students on the following evenings at the Southbank Campus:
Undergraduate Information - Wed 10 June, 6.30pm
More info>>
Graduate Information Night - Wed 8 July, 6.00pm More info>>

Presented by
School of Performing Arts 

Win one of five double passes to The Learned Ladies on Tuesday 2 June at 7.30pm

email vcam-enews to win!

Win one of five double passes to The Bourgeois Gentleman
on Tuesday 2 June at 8.00pm
email vcam-enews to win!

Two plays by Molière, whose witty satires on social pretensions still bite deep in the 21st century.
29 May – 6 June
More details>>

Presented by
Malthouse Theatre
 

By Peter Houghton
Director Aidan Fennessy
Cast Peter Houghton & Luke Ryan
 

Win one of five double passes to A Commercial Farce on Friday 5 June at 8pm
email vcam-enews to win!

Driven by wit, cynicism and thigh-slapping humour, A Commercial Farce is biting comedy at its best. Expect slapstick, running gags, misunderstandings and an inability to communicate the simplest of messages. It’s one big, complex and complicated dog’s breakfast - that must nonetheless unfold with blind precision.
5 - 27 June
www.malthousetheatre.com.au

Win one of 50 double passes to Every Little Step on Wed 24 June at 6.30pm - the story of the audition process for the 2005 New York production of Chorus Line.
email Cinema Nova with VCAM in the subject line to win!
 

Win one of five double passes to RiP A Remix Manifesto on Tues 2 June at 6.30pm - screening and panel discussion on copyright and music with entertainment lawyer Shaun Miller, leading copyright lawyer Colin Golvan SC and musician Josh Abrahams.
email vcam-enews to win!
 

Win one of five double passes to Disgrace on Wed 10 June at 6.45pm - screening and Q & A with director Steve Jacobs and screenwriter Anna Maria Monticelli.
email vcam-enews to win!
 

www.cinemanova.com.au
 

Presented by Finucane & Smith and fortyfivedownstairs

Win one of 3 double passes to The Burlesque Hour Legends on Wed 24 June at 7.00pm
email vcam-enews to win!
 

London cult cabaret star Ursula Martinez, Australia's darkest singing angel Paul Capsis and the Legend of Australian Variety Miss Toni Lamond join internationally acclaimed Mistress of Grand Guignol Moira Finucane, elegant iconoclast Maude Davey, Goddess of dark butoh dementia Yumi Umiumare, circus and burlesque siren Azaria Universe and wild kitten sensation Kitten K.O. Every night, only at the door are 10 x $20 tickets for students and unemployed.

24 June – 2 August
www.fortyfivedownstairs.com