Tidying up is like Everest, says comedian Josh Thomas, impossible! HELEN MUSA has more about the new show – Let’s Tidy Up – in this week’s Arts in the City column.

Comedian Josh Thomas returns to the mainstage in a new show, Let’s Tidy Up, written with top playwright Lally Katz. It’s already been on a 20-date tour of North America and it’s all about, well, tidying up, which Thomas describes as “like Everest – a fundamentally impossible task, like trying to defy the moon and control the tides”. Canberra Theatre, February 23.

Living the Tradition is a film that follows cellist and composer Ilse de Ziah as she travels around Ireland to uncover the hidden secrets of a selection of Irish airs. De Ziah, who performs contemporary, classical, rock ‘n’ roll, traditional Irish, jazz and experimental music, will be in Canberra with guitarist Ian Date to perform a 50-minute live performance after screening of the film at the National Film and Sound Archive, February 21. 

At a snazzy season launch, Music for Canberra has signalled its intention to move into the future while respecting its past by naming several ensembles after pivotal supporters of the youth music organisation: The Gilby Strings, conducted by Anna Harrison in appreciation of the Gilby family; the BJ Gilby Chair after violinist Jane Barbara Gilby; the Louise Butler Strings, led by conductor Mandy Philipse, after cellist, educator and advocate Butler; and McCusker Strings, conducted by Jenny Higgs, after the original conductor and co-founder of the organisation, James McCusker. 

Canberra novelist Karen Viggers has a new novel, Sidelines, about parental competitiveness and pressure and the way this can impact on kids. “We’ve all seen parents behaving badly on the sidelines,” she says, “I wrote the book to stimulate discussion about how to be a better sports parent through encouragement and support, rather than pressure to win.” Viggers will be at Meet the Author, ANU Kambri cinema, February 22.

Art Song Canberra will open its Season of Song with a tribute to retiring president and longtime art song advocate, Oliver Raymond. The details of the program are supposed to be a surprise, but insiders say a very much-loved Canberra soprano will emerge from retirement for the day. At Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, 3pm, February 25. 

Belconnen Arts Centre has a new resident company, Marie-Cecile’s Music, whose students and choir have already moved into the building, filling it with music every day.