There’s a mighty list of arts events on offer in and around town this week. Arts editor HELEN MUSA lists as many as her Artsweek column will take.

Shortis & Simpson are presenting Something Worth Fighting For – Australian Protest Songs, songs collected during Shortis’ folk fellowship at the National Library. It’s  a live presentation with their choir, reprising their performance from the National Folk Festival. National Library Theatre, September 26.

A fun-filled event for children with arts, crafts, gardening and exploration activities will be held at Lanyon Homestead, September 28.

Sarah Lawrence is giving a lecture for the Friends of the ANU Classic Museum on Medea: Thinking about the Unthinkable, Melville Hall, AD Hope Building, ANU, September 26.

Concerts

• Carla Blackwood will join Australian Haydn Ensemble: on the horn, exploring Mozart’s finest music for the horn, including his Horn Quintet and Concerto. Wesley Music Centre, September 26.
• Llewellyn Choir has a fun spring concert with a cocktails theme, featuring jazz standards, opera choruses, and more. Polish White Eagle Club, Turner, September 27.
• The Goldner String Quartet, on their farewell tour, will perform at Snow Concert Hall on September 28.
• Australia’s folk/pop performers, Frente, will perform at Smith’s@Belco, supported by Canberra’s Evan Buckley and Sophie Edwards. Belconnen Arts Centre, September 28.
• Canberra Mandolin Orchestra and the Canberra Recorder Orchestra will stage their inaugural concert collaboration featuring compositions by Handel, Mozart, Biber and Haydn. All Saints Anglican Church Ainslie, September 29.
• The Song Company’s Fire Songs and Madrigals, celebrating the ensemble’s 40th anniversary, Wesley Music Centre, September 29.
• Water Works, a CD of 12 preludes for solo piano by Alan Hinde, will be performed by pianist Stuart Long, Wesley Music Centre, September 29.
• Charles Huang will perform Beethoven’s Sonata No. 22 in F major Op. 54, Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise and music by Miriam Hyde. Wesley Music Centre, October 2.

Galleries

• UK Frederick: Unseeded, is an installation of glass seed pods, Frederick’s interests in archaeology and photography, Drill Hall Gallery, ANU, until November 3.
• A solo exhibition by Julie Gough uses sound, film and sculpture. ANU School of Art & Design Gallery, September 26-October 25.
• The Places We Inhabit: Vessels from the Villages, featuring ceramic artists from Braidwood, Sutton, Bungendore, Collector, and Gundaroo is at Watson Arts Centre, September 26-October 20.
• Gallery of Small Things is holding its 6th Annual Group Show featuring eight artists from outside Canberra, responding to the theme “Connections”. Catalogue launch, 27 Wade Street, Watson, September 27.
• The exhibition “witness, collector, archivist, narrator” Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Parkes, on September 27.
• The official Canberra Art Biennial Festival launch will also take place at CCAS Lakeside on September 27, with guest speaker Laura Tingle. Free event.
• Rusten House Arts Centre, Queanbeyan, will open three new exhibitions on September 28 as part of the Arts Trail: Michelle Hiscock: Landscape and Memory; Patrick Morison: LOOKS; and Ralph and Leisa Fox’s Adorable Salvage.
• Canberra Craft Bookbinders’ Guild is holding an exhibition of 38 bindings/constructions of fine, contemporary, sculptural, and artistic creations. Mezzanine level, Civic Library, until October 2.

Stage

• Erth’s ARC is a show featuring rare and exotic animals, written by Alana Valentine, focusing on the conservation of Leadbeater’s possums. The Playhouse, September 26-28.
• Vanessa Larry Mitchell appears in the comedy show, Teardrops On My Dildo, The Street Theatre, September 26.
• Mighty Playwrights 2024, sees The Lieder Theatre Company and Goulburn Mulwaree Library bring to life six locally written short plays, Lieder Theatre, September 27-28.
• Green Oak Theatre: Play Me Something is a compilation of four original short plays by Canberrans, Belconnen Community Theatre, September 26-28.
• Illusionist Michael Boyd returns with his magic and illusion show direct from Las Vegas. Canberra Theatre, October 2.