It’s all about singing this month with musicals and choral performances popping up everywhere. And no I’m not talking about the much-anticipated The Sound of Music production that is still 6 weeks away!

The two musicals hitting town in August are Little Shop of Horrors, opening at His Majesty’s Theatre on 4th August, and Black Swan Theatre’s Clinton the Musical on the 27th. This very topical production was scripted and composed by Aussie brothers Michael and Paul Hodge and is just the antidote we need to survive the US election.

There are also two large-scale choral concerts this month. The WA Academy of Performing Arts will team up with school choirs from John Septimus Roe and All Saints at St Mary’s Cathedral on on the 4th to perform Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, accompanied on organ by Stewart Smith. The St George’s Cathedral choir will perform Durufle’s Requiem and Rutter’s Gloria on the 12th accompanied by WASO brass and percussion.

The vocal fireworks continue with Opera Australia soprano Taryn Fiebig returns to her almer mater Churchlands Senior High School for a benefit concert From School to Opera Australia on the 19th.

Also on the 19th the Grigoryan Brothers are visiting WAAPA for a guitar concert. The Academy’s elite Indian Ocean Ensemble led by Alexandre da Costa will perform Strauss, Schoenberg and Beethoven on the 25/26th. Meanwhile over at the University of WA Ensemble Vagabond will perform the iconic wind quintets by Mozart and Beethoven on the 21st.

WASO will be working with Simone Young in a flamboyant concert of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Holst’s Planets on 5/6th. Asher Fisch is back in town in the lead up to the tour of China in October. His first concert on 19th/20th will feature principal horn David Evans is soloist in Mozart’s popular Horn Concerto alongside Schubert 4 and Bartok Concerto for Orchestra. On the 26th/27th Latvian violinist Baiba Skride will perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.4 and Brahms Piano Quartet No.1 with the orchestra.

Tura New Music’s Scale Variable series continues at Studio Underground with a concert on the 27th of experimental music solos performed by Louise Devenish (percussion) & James Hullick (piano). And on the topic of new music, a fascinating discussion on Australian women composers will be led on the 9th by yours truly as part of UWA’s Music Research Seminars. More details to follow soon!