The arts events this month begin with the return of popular singers Sara Macliver and Fiona Campbell to St George’s Cathedral’s for their Diva’s Delight concert on the 3rd August.
In the JAZZ world the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra will team up with Austrian saxophonist and bandleader Julian Argüelles for concerts on the 3/4th as part of their exchange program with the KUG Jazz Institute in Graz.
The WA Symphony Orchestra also have a jazz theme with concerts on the 3/4th with James Morrison who will be playing timeless hits from his latest album The Great American Songbook. The orchestra celebrate their 90th year this month with conductor Asher Fisch conducting Wagner’s groundbreaking opera Tristan und Isolde. The concert performances on the 16th & 19th promise the finest cast ever assembled in Australia with Stuart Skelton as Tristan and Eva-Maria Westbroek as Isolde. The opera is one of the greatest of all tragic love stories and will unfold over 5 hours with two intervals. This concert will be the cumulation of Fisch’s work shaping the orchestra into a world class interpreter of German romantic repertoire and perhaps the pinnacle of their time together. Don’t miss it!
Fresh from performances of Carmen, WA Opera young artists Fleuranne Brockway and Rebecca Castellini will perform a number of arias and also talk about their journey at Opera Lovers WA’s Onwards and Upwards concert on the 7th. For more vocal music check out Perth Choral Society’s Swoons concert at Christ Church Claremont on the 12th and the Giovanni Consort’s concert on the 18th Americana: Breaking Time’s Arrow which charts America’s diverse choral history.
On the 16th the Perth Symphony Orchestra will perform Mozart’s Symphony No 41 in a short 40 minute concert called CALM. The concert aims for stressed-out city workers to relax and rejuvenate with this culturally holistic mind and body experience.
Downstairs at His Maj will continue their cabaret series on 16-18th with three of Australia’s top cabaret performers joining forces for a magical mystery tour called Good Day Sunshine: The Lennon & McCartney Songbook.
On the 21st Taiwanese/Qld/USA violinist virtuoso Ray Chen will give a recital with French pianist Julien Quentin thanks to Musica Viva. The heart-stopping virtuoso will perform works by Frank, Ravel and the world premiere of a composition by Matthew Hindson.
The WA Academy of Performing Arts has a busy month. The WAAPA wind and brass ensembles will perform Mozart’s Gran Partita and music by Giovanni Gabrieli on the 9th. On the 24th one of the most exciting Brazilian classical guitarists Chrystian Dozza will perform a selection of his solo guitar music and will be joined by WAAPA guitar students for performances of some of his larger works. On the 25th the Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George will open featuring 3rd year music theatre students. And finally come and discover buried treasure on the 31st August and 1st Sept as Jeanelle Carrigan and David Wichkham perform the forgotten and exquisite music of the fascinating Dutch/West Australian composer Meta Overman
From the 17th-20th the Perth Poetry Festival will spice up the WA LITERATURE scene with its theme Celebrating Diversity. The festival is one of only two dedicated poetry festivals in Australia and has a great range of local and interstate authors involved.
In the world of THEATRE on the 2nd Perth welcomes national company Bangarra Dance Theatre to Perth, winner of seven awards at the 2018 Helpmann awards. Their new work Dark Emu features dance stories exploring the vital life force of flora and fauna, redefining the narrative around the post-colonial myth of the ‘hunter-gatherer’. Another national company Bell Shakespeare will perform Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar from the 8-11th at the State Theatre Centre. Bell Shakespeare’s Associate Director, James Evans,will direct Shakespeare’s political thriller in a production that promises to leave audiences breathless at the fragility of democracy.
Black Swan State Theatre in (their first) collaboration with Yirra Yarkin Theatre Company will present the world premiere of Skylab, from 16th Aug – 2nd September before touring to Karratha and Carnavon. The new work is being billed as a Western Australian sci-fi comedy about the launch of a science laboratory into Earth’s outer orbit and its top secret experiments, told through the eyes of local Esperance residents.
James Palm from The Boston Curse has written a new work Threshold which throws open the curtains on corruption, cover ups and the harsh game of politics as it tells the story of the Nauru Detention Centre. Directed by Bridget Le May (EDGE), this fast-paced drama opens on the 7th at The Blue Room.
On the 8th The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime begins the Perth leg of its national tour. Featuring remarkable, immersive staging and a full British and Irish cast, this global theatrical phenomenon is based around the fifteen-year-old mathematical genius Christopher Boone who is ill- equipped to interpret everyday life but must clear himself of being falsely accused of killing his neighbour’s dog.
Finally Daniel Tobias will perform his comedy The Orchid and the Crow at the Subiaco Art Centre on the 31st. The show is about an atheist surviving cancer by finding God in Lance Armstrong – with songs along the way!
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