MonthMay 2021

National Capital Orchestra – Fate

3pm, Sunday 16 May 2021
The Q, Queanbeyan

In a celebration of Beethoven’s 251st birthday, after his 250th party was sadly cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, Maestro Louis Sharpe makes his conducting debut with the NCO as it performs the thunderous Symphony No 5 in C minor.

The program opens with the Overture from The Magic Flute by Mozart.

Also featured will be the atmospheric The Blue Mountains by renowned Canberra composer Sally Greenaway, in an arrangement made especially for the NCO. This work portrays the vista of the stunning  Blue Mountains with their dramatic valleys and rock formations seen from an aerial perspective.

The soloist, Canberra cellist James Monro, will perform Kol Nidrei, a soulful work for cello and orchestra by Max Bruch, based on two traditional Hebrew melodies.

Bookings https://theq.net.au/whats-on/productions/fate-national-capital-orchestra/

Sutton Village Gallery – official opening

51 Camp Street Sutton NSW
2pm Saturday 8 May 2021
Some of the exhibiting artists will be in attendance

All are welcome to the official opening of Sutton Village Gallery with its first exhibition of 22 artists, working in a variety of mediums including painting,  printmaking, drawing, ceramics, glass, photography & sculpture. 

The gallery will feature a new artist every 4-6 weeks on the main wall. The first is Canberra-based printmaker, Sally Dunbar. (https://www.facebook.com/sallydunbarartist/)

Sutton Village Gallery is committed to promoting Australian artists, especially its regional artists, makers & designers.  Most artists are local. Workshops with local artists are in the planning stages. 

Belconnen Artists Network: Luminosity

A group exhibition at Strathnairn Arts
96 Stockdill Drive Holt ACT
Until 30 May 2021
Open Thursday to Sunday 10am to 4pm
Opening 5.30pm Thursday 6 May 2021 – RSVP [email protected]

This diverse collection is testament to the collegial strength of the Belconnen Artists Network (BEAN), a group of artists who support each other’s practice with regular meetings and an annual exhibition. Mediums in this year’s iteration include painting, photomedia, and textile art.

Barbie spoke to one of the BEAN artists, Margaret Kalms
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Kaneana May – All we have is now

Harper Collins, Australia, 2021

In this, her second novel, Kaneana May brings us a story of family. Most families will experience times of loss, grief, sadness, dispute, misunderstanding, failures of communication and petty bickering. But amidst it all there is usually love. And indeed, this is what we see in the lives of the three women at the centre of this epic tale.

Kaneana May talks about All we have is now
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Emma Bowd and Tania McCartney – Wonderful Shoes

Windy Hollow Books, Australia 2021

Emma Bowd’s lilting rhymes and Tania McCartney’s jaunty images marry beautifully in this new toddler book.

Who cannot remember their children or grandchildren clomping about in the grown-ups’ shoes? Of perhaps young parents will recall doing this themselves. And this is where the book positions itself, not just with its story of all the wonderful and varied shoes in a normal life, but in the visual perspective of a child, who of course often sees the world by looking up.

Barbie spoke to Emma Bowd and Tania McCartney about Wonderful Shoes
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Twist – film review

Britain, 2021
Showing in Canberra at Hoyts and Limelight
Directed by Martin Owen

With Sir Michael Caine in the role of Fagin, this modern take on Dickens’ Oliver Twist already had my ears pricked up. And indeed when he comes on screen with that characteristic voice, he is always a pleasure to watch.

This ‘adaptation’ is more of a rewrite. It sees an orphaned Twist with an artistic mother, from whom he receives an art education and probably his talent, grow into a free-running spray paint artist who falls foul of the law and is rescued by Fagin’s band of thieves.

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Mike Lucas and Daron Parton – Let’s Build a House

Cover and internal design: Ingrid Kwong
Lothian Children’s Books, Hachette Australia, 2021

Mike Lucas first started writing silly poems quite a while back to amuse his children. After a time this morphed into writing picture books, many of them full of fun but others also touching on major environmental themes (Vanishing, Midnight Sun, 2018) and love and friendship (Olivia’s Voice, Midnight Sun, 2017).

New Zealand based illustrator Daron Parton has been working as an illustrator since 1990 and is also an illustration tutor at Auckland University of Technology. Daron’s books include The Ultimate Survival Guide to Monsters Under Your Bed and A Crocodile in the Family.

Barbie spoke with Mike Lucas about Let’s Build a House
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