Show news, arts news and gallery news (well, news of a cafe) are in the mix of HELEN MUSA’s Arts in the City column this week. 

Stuart Skelton, the Grammy-nominated Australian tenor, will join Canberra-trained mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby, Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra to perform Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) in Schoenberg’s arrangement of the work. Skelton and the ACO first presented the work at the Edinburgh Festival in 2016. Known as a lover of fast cars, cigars and cocktails, Skelton is in demand as a soloist across the world’s stages, from singing the role of Tristan at The Met in New York to starring in The Last Night of the Proms in London. He’s at Llewellyn Hall on May 24.

Comedians Kaz Cooke and Judith Lucy will be here with Menopausal Night Out, bringing stand-up comedy, laughs and “really useful chats” about perimenopause and whatever comes. The Playhouse, May 24. 

Canberra Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jessica Cottis, performs Edge of the World, opening with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending, followed by Nigel Westlake’s Toward Takayna: Concerto for two guitars, composed for the Grigoryan Brothers, who will perform the work. It concludes with Sibelius’ Second Symphony, composed in the mountains of Italy. Llewellyn Hall, May 22-23.

Tjaabi: Flood Country is a contemporary intercultural music and theatre performance led by Patrick Churnside and Big hART. Ten years in the making, it captures the urgencies of the 21st century as the globe warms and the climate changes and features the tjaabi song form, which is unique to the First Nations peoples of the Pilbara. The Vault, Dairy Road, Fyshwick, May 24.

In How do we Fix a Turbulent World? human rights barrister and TV’s Hypothetical presenter Geoffrey Robertson analyses current affairs during a year in which 49 per cent of the world’s population across 64 countries will go to the polls. The new show will also provide insight into Robertson’s life and famous cases. Canberra Theatre, May 22.

The National Gallery of Australia has appointed Kerstin Thompson Architects to design a new café and dining destination for visitors, to be opened by July 2025. Located at the main entrance, the new café will open on to the Australian Garden with views of James Turrell’s Skyspace Within Without. 

ANU Drill Hall Gallery Publishing will showcase its range of titles at the NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair, where author Quentin Sprague, art critic and historian Victoria Perin and the Drill Hall’s Tony Oates will be in conversation to launch the monograph, Ken Whisson: Painting & Drawing in Melbourne on May 26.