From folk music and Holy Week composition to poetry and literature, HELEN MUSA gets musical and more in her latest Artsweek column.

The milestone 60th National Folk Festival brings music, culture, and community together across multiple days of performances, workshops, and celebrations at Exhibition Park in Canberra, April, 2-6.

The Wesley Music Centre’s Holy Week program presents Lamentations for Maundy Thursday, a moving performance of Porpora’s sacred composition at Wesley Uniting Church, April, 2 and Good Friday – Passiontide: Compassion and Gratitude, featuring Graupner’s Passion Kantaten at Wesley Uniting Church, April, 3.

The exhibition Wangka Wakanutja: The Story of the Papunya Literature Production Centre highlights the rich literary and artistic legacy of Papunya at National Library of Australia, April, 4-25.

Geoff’s Poetry returns with a spoken word evening featuring Jennifer Mackenzie and Mark O’Connor at Smiths Alternative, April, 6.

Stage

• Free-Rain Theatre Company presents the pop musical & Juliet, reimagining Shakespeare’s heroine at The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, until April 26.
• Greek Theatre Now stages an outdoor production of Oedipus the King, bringing classical tragedy to life in a natural amphitheatre setting at Burbidge Amphitheatre, Australian National Botanic Gardens, April, 1-6.

Concerts

• An evening of live jazz hosted by Geoff Page sees the Lachlan Coventry Trio perform at Smiths Alternative, April 1.
• Australian rock legend James Reyne revisits the legacy of Australian Crawl with The Fall of Crawl Tour at Canberra Southern Cross Club Woden, April 2.
• Four Winds hosts the Grigoryan Brothers and Friends in a special Easter concert series culminating in This Is Us, blending music with projected imagery at Windsong Pavilion, April 3-5.
• Countertenor Tobias Cole presents VIGIL, performing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater alongside soprano Greta Claringbould and ensemble at Smiths Alternative, April 4.
• The Wesley Lunchtime Concert series offers a rare full performance of Bach’s Aria with Thirty Variations by pianist Charles Huang at Wesley Uniting Church, April 8.

Galleries

• Bunker Studio Artists present a diverse group exhibition of painting, drawing, and photography at The Queanbeyan Hive, April 2-25, dedicated to the memory of their colleague June Roblom; also includes viewing on Easter Friday and Monday.
• A special artist talk by Omar Musa explores themes of power and violence in The Hurt Business at Megalo Print Studio, April 2.
• John Brack x Noel McKenna: A Face in the Mirror presents a playful dialogue between two influential Australian artists through more than 90 works at National Portrait Gallery, April 3-25.
• Jennifer Robertson’s Weaving Geomorphic Formations at Cox Gallery, until April 25.

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