CutCommon

BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE Attend a classical music performance in Australia, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t connected to the Australian Youth Orchestra. From the musicians on stage to the marketing gurus behind the scenes, or even the concertgoers themselves, we all become part of the enormous community of those who have attended AYO camps; watched or listened to AYO orchestral concerts played live, or broadcast on the radio; donated to or participated in AYO programs.

CONTENT COURTESY ANAM Applications close on Sunday 14 June for the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) 2027 Performance Program, open to Australian and New Zealand classical musicians. ANAM is a place where instrument mastery, innovative programming, and industry collaborations converge to forge skilled musicians who are supported by a robust musician enhancement program that responds to today’s world.

CONTENT COURTESY AYO Applications are now open. Key dates snapshot: 3 August 2026 Registrations close (all programs) 11 August 2026 String auditions due 13 August 2026 All other auditions/portfolio submissions due Are you an emerging musician or arts administrator aged 12 to 30 ready to shape your future in music?

BY LILY BRYANT In an often-quoted letter from 1829, German writer Goethe neatly describes listening to a string quartet as hearing “four intelligent people conversing.” Anyone who’s witnessed a quartet perform live will surely agree. There’s a particular synergy necessary for four minds to work both as individuals and as a collective, adapting and responding to each other moment by moment.

BY CUTCOMMON Richard Tognetti is known as a “superstar violinist” of Australia. He’s the artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and has six ARIA awards to his name. But have you heard of violinist Theonie Wang and fellow members of the ANAM Orchestra? They’re also superstar musicians in the making, and they’re going to share the stage with Richard across two June concerts featuring old and new masterpieces of the repertoire.

BY CUTCOMMON The new Netflix series Man on Fire is as thrilling as anything composer Max Aruj has worked on before: Mission: Impossible, Top Gun: Maverick, and Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi. The screen composer from Los Angeles has worked with major production companies and collaborated with top-tier composers (think John Williams), all with a special focus on the types of projects that’ll get your heart pumping with adrenaline.

BY CHRISTOPHER LEON How can we have a well-rounded music education in Australia without exposure to the music of cultures across the world? This is the benefit of the Lutosławski Quartet’s upcoming involvement with musicians-in-training at the Australian National Academy of Music. The group was formed in 2007 and is now one of the most successful string ensembles in Poland.

BY CUTCOMMON This is not the first time we’ve featured Arcadia Winds in CutCommon. Since the chamber group’s founding in 2013, we’ve caught up with these Australian musicians over the years because they’re almost always doing something exciting. It could be the new music that they commission from Australian composers, or it could be their success as Musica Viva FutureMakers, or perhaps their ABC Classics release — take your pick of achievements from this now-internationally acclaimed ensemble.

BY CHRISTOPHER LEON Relaxed performances are gaining popularity because they turn a formal, classical concertgoing experience into one that’s more casual and inviting to those with different accessibility needs when experiencing live music. In a similar spirit is Quick Fix at Half Six — a concert series defined by short durations and high context.

BY CHRISTOPHER LEON This May, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is taking two of its leading instrumentalists, and putting them front-and-centre as dual directors of an upcoming concert program. Principal Oboe Johannes Grosso (pictured throughout) will direct woodwind musicians through Gran Partita, Mozart’s work featuring in their concert program of the same name. Meanwhile, Principal Clarinet David Thomas will direct a work by Strauss in the same event.