Arts here, arts there and arts everywhere! HELEN MUSA rounds up what’s on where in her latest Artsweek column. 

Canberra soprano SaraLouise Owens appears as 19th-century songstress Anna Bishop in her own script,  Bad Girl: The World’s First Daringly Defiant Diva, with pianist Lucus Allerton as her associate artist. The show is directed by Tony Turner and Cate Clelland. Canberra Rep Theatre, April 3-5. 

ANU Drill Hall Gallery presents Sunday afternoon lectures with Terence Maloon on the first Sunday of each month, April–September. Cézanne’s posterity, Coombs Lecture Theatre, Fellows Road, ANU, April 6

Next up in Geoff’s Poetry at Smiths will be Peter Goldsworthy and Sarah Rice. Smith’s Alternative, Civic, April 7.

Stage 

• The Hayes Theatre’s hilarious production of The Pirates of Penzance, is at Canberra Theatre until April 6.
• Victorian Ballet’s production of Swan Lake, Canberra Theatre, April 4-5.
• In Comfort Food Cabaret, singing cook, Michelle Pearson, will serenade the audience as she creates a three-course menu accompanied by a live band. Tuggeranong Arts Centre, two shows on April 5.

Galleries

• Mixed media artist Stephen Clively takes an affectionate look at scenes in cafes, restaurants and bars across Canberra and other locations in his solo exhibition Layers and Backdrops. The Front Gallery and Café, Lyneham, until April 16.
• Artists Tom Fereday and Katie-Ann Houghton exhibit at Canberra Glassworks, Kingston, April 5-June 8.
• Between Earth and Sky, by Amanda McLean and Kristen O’Keeffe is at Capital Wines’ Kyeema Gallery, Hall, April 3-May 25.
• Queanbeyan-Palerang Heritage Festival launches with the opening of three exhibitions: Watercolour Vistas, H.G.Lloyd’s Historic Landscapes from the State Library of NSW; Our Home, contemporary local landscapes by Alex Lynn; and Fake & Famous, recreated works from the walls of history. Rusten House Art Centre, Queanbeyan, April 5-May 24.

 Concerts

• Sophie Hutchings will play piano works inspired by Sidney Nolan’s paintings, CMAG, April 4.
• Ireland’s Damien Leith returns with his latest show, Ireland Orchestrated, in which he sings Irish classics such as Danny Boy, Molly Malone, The Fields of Athenry, Tell Me Ma and You Raise Me Up. Llewellyn Hall, April 5.
• Coro chamber choir returns with Days of Miracle & Wonder. The concert includes the Canberra premiere of Richard Rodney Bennett’s The Glory and the Dream, songs by Tallis, Britten, Whitacre, and a work by Cuban composer, Beatriz Corona. Wesley Music Centre, April 5.
• Musica da Camera’s first performance of 2025 will be Angels and Serenades, Gustav Holst’s Brook Green Suite and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 and Peteris Vasks’ Lonely Angel. Holy Covenant Church, Cook, April 5.
• The National Capital Orchestra will feature the epic Symphony No. 5. by Shostakovich, Snow Concert Hall April 6.
• In the series Harmonic Curves, Arnan Wiesel will perform Romantic Piano, The Carneval Op 9 by Schumann and Liszt’s B minor Sonata, Wesley Music Centre, April 6.
• The Australian Chamber Orchestra will appear with cellist Abel Selaocoe, Llewellyn Hall, April 7.
• A joint concert featuring Canberra Men’s Choir, Canberra Community Voices Choir and the Dante Musica Viva Italian Choir will see each of the three choirs in solo performance followed by a joint performance. Auditorium, Merici College, April 8.
• Pianist Jennifer Hou will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Maurice Ravel with a performance of his neo-classical Sonatine. She will also perform American composer Caroline Shaw’s work for solo piano, Gustave Le Gray and finish with a folk song by contemporary Chinese composer Zhang Zhao. Wesley Music Centre, April 9.