18 - 19 August

Five playwrights from Asia come together this month with the VCA School of Performing Arts and dramaturg Raimondo Cortese to workshop and present public readings of their plays. In association with Za-Koenji Public Theatre in Tokyo and co-presented by the VCA and the Arts Centre, the readings involve third year acting students and postgraduate directors.
More info and booking details.

15 September

Conductor Michael Thomas, who spent 27 years as first violinist with the Brodsky Quartet, is a visiting artist at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music next month. On 15 September he will share of knowledge in a public masterclass: The Art of Chamber Music, featuring some of the Conservatorium’s finest chamber ensembles. Then on 19 September he will lead the University of Melbourne Orchestra at the Melbourne Recital Centre in works by Anthony Lyons, Bartok and de Falla. 

8 - 18 September

As their final major performance, the first cohort of graduating students from Music Theatre will present West Side Story in Space 28 next month. Supported by an orchestra of over 20 musicians and an award winning creative team this production incorporates students from VCA Production and Contemporary Music as well as the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. Full season and booking details.

2 - 3 September

The School of Art’s annual student-run exhibition Proud opens at the Margaret Lawrence Gallery on Thursday 1 September, 6pm – 8pm. Proud expresses the collective nature of this new generation of artists, displaying diverse, intriguing and sometimes challenging practices, that often go unseen, all proudly put on public display. Follow proud2011 on Facebook.

Alumnus Ross Coulter is the 2011 winner of the $25,000 Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship for visual artists. His winning artwork 10,000 paper planes , was undertaken at Victoria’s State Library involving shooting video of the release of 10,000 paper planes into the La Trobe domed reading room. Mr Coulter aims to use the Murdoch Fellowship for 18 weeks of travel through Europe as well as New York and Hong Kong to further his investigations into multi screen video installations, large format analogue prints and printing techniques. Read more.

Internationally respected conductor Simone Young has been chosen as the recipient of the 2011 Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award for her outstanding contribution to music in Australia. The award is presented annually by the Melbourne Conservatorium and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Friends. “Over the past two decades, Ms Young has reinforced her reputation as one of the leading conductors of her generation,” said Professor Gary McPherson, “Acclaimed by both the profession and public alike for her musical programming and performance successes.” Read more.

Current masters student, clarinettist and computer programmer Samuel Dunscombe is the 2011 winner of the $20,000 Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch Travelling Fellowship. Having been accepted into the doctoral program at the University of California San Diego, Mr Dunscombe will be able to use scholarship funds to cover his expenses as he continues to examine the effect of digital technology on contemporary music performance practice. Read more.

First place in the Lions Clubs' Global Youth Music Competition was awarded to Daniel Nistico, a classical guitar student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. The competition, extending to candidates from the United States, Australasia, Europe and South/Central America, invited young musicians to play three classical arrangements in front of a crowd of Lions from across the globe. Read more.

Open Day is taking place on Sunday 21 August 
10am - 4pm, at both Southbank and Parkville campuses. This is an excellent opportunity to find out why you should study at the VCA and Melbourne Conservatorium: see us in action, talk to lecturers and take part in the day’s activities. Customise and download your Open Day program online.

If you’re interested in a career in film and television, come along to our graduate course information sessions at the School of Film and Television. Lecturers will present our programs and you can discuss your study plans and career ambitions.

Tues 23 August, 6.30pm
Master of Producing / Master of Screenwriting 

Wed 24 August, 6.30pm
Master of Film and Television (Narrative, Documentary, Animation or Post Production and Visual Effects) 

Following its triumphant premiere season in March 2011, Café Scheherazade returns by popular demand to Melbourne’s fortyfivedownstairs. A new Australian play by Thérèse Radic, based on the best-selling 2001 novel by Arnold Zable, directed by Bagryana Popov with musical director Elissa Goodrich.

For your chance to win a double pass to the preview performance on Friday 19 August at 8pm email
vcam-enews@unimelb.edu.au.

20 August – 11 September
fortyfivedownstairs.com  03 9662 9966

At an under-subscribed acting class, students and teacher go through exercises to loosen their bodies, strengthen their voices and liberate their imaginations. Yet as the weeks pass, they discover something utterly transformative is being created between them. An award winning, off-Broadway hit by Annie Baker. 

For your chance to win one of 2 double passes to a preview performance on Thursday 18 August 7pm, email vcam-enews@unimelb.edu.au.

17 August - 17 September
mtc.com.au 03 8688 0800
Under 30s tickets from just $25.

Vienna: Art & Design, now showing at NGV International, is open until 9pm Wednesdays for art after dark. Enjoy food, drink and free entertainment as the NGV comes alive with a series of performers representing the spirit of early 20th century Vienna. Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, Martin Martini, Mojo Juju and Rapskallion will each take the stage over the coming months.

For your chance to win a double pass to Vienna: Art & Design  email vcam-enews@unimelb.edu.au.

Until 9 October
ngv.vic.gov.au

Directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Geoffrey Rush, Charlotte Rampling and Judy Davis. In the Sydney suburb of Centennial Park, two nurses, a housekeeper and a solicitor attend to Elizabeth Hunter as her expatriate son and daughter convene at her deathbed. Based on the classic novel by Nobel Prize winner Patrick White, this is a savage exploration of family relationships.

For your chance to win one of 10 in-season double passes email vcam-enews with your name and postal address.

In cinemas nationally September 15, 2011
Running Time: 119 min  Rating: MA
www.theeyeofthestorm.com.au