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Latest News

• Wellbeing experts highlight the power of arts and culture to improve health and wellbeing for all

  08 February 2023

  Wellbeing experts, practitioners, and policymakers from across the globe are coming together in Melbourne to advance the vital role of arts and culture in contributing to better quality of life outcomes for all Australians.

  • Creative Arts Therapy

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• 5 ways singing helps humanity

  08 February 2023

  University of Melbourne researchers have found singing is a powerful way to achieve deep personal and social meaning, and support mental and physical wellbeing

  • Music, Arts & Screen

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• PhD student Meta Cohen plays at the intersection of queerness, theatricality and sound

  19 January 2023

  Meta Cohen (they/them/she/her) is a composer, sound designer and dramaturg with work spanning music, theatre and interdisciplinary art. Meta’s music has been commissioned by ensembles such as the Sydney Children’s Choir, Luminescence Chamber Singers and Mosaic Voices, and performed in di...

  • Research

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• 5 Australian women choreographers you should know (and where to see them in 2023)

  10 January 2023

  Supporting and celebrating today's women choreographers is vital to encouraging a new generation of women to follow, giving women in dance a voice into the future. So where are the Australian women choreographers of the today? Here are five to get you started.

  • Dance

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• Music, animation, and dance students take over Fed Square’s digital façade on New Year’s Eve

  20 December 2022

  Students from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) at the University of Melbourne will take over Fed Square on New Year's Eve with an electrifying evening of performances from 6.30pm.

  • Dance

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• Naur, yeah: Australia, you're performing linguistic magic when you pronounce the two-letter word 'no'. Here's why

  14 December 2022

  Did you know that Australians perform linguistic magic while pronouncing the word 'no'? Amy Hume, Lecturer in Theatre (Voice) at the Victorian College of the Arts explains why in this article for The Conversation.

  • News

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• Dr Anthea Skinner interviewed on ABC Classic Drive

  06 December 2022

  Dr Anthea Skinner spoke with ABC Classic Drive about her research on Adaptive Musical instruments ahead of International Day of People with Disability.

  • News

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• Conservatorium graduates selected for the Victorian Opera Emerging Artist program

  06 December 2022

  Master of Music (Opera Performance) graduates, Syrah Torii and Alastair Cooper-Golec will receive full-time employment and mentorship at the Victorian Opera.

  • News

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• The Past is Present: Reflecting on 150 years of Chinese art at the National Gallery of Victoria

  06 December 2022

  Honorary at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, Alison Carrol reviewed the NGV's latest exhibition 'China - The Past is Present' for the Conversation.

  • News

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• The forgotten ballets of Australia

  29 November 2022

  Hear from Yvette Grant, a researcher in dance history at the Victorian College of the Arts as she introduces us to the prolific choreographer Laurel Martyn (1916-2013) who created 31 original ballets during her long career.

  • News

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• 2022 Art graduates share a future built on community

  29 November 2022

  Head of VCA Art, Associate Professor Simone Slee was interviewed by ArtsHub about the 2022 VCA Art Grad Show.

  • News

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• Professor Jane Davidson on the benefits of group singing

  29 November 2022

  Professor Jane Davidson, Head of the Faculty Research Centre appeared on ABC News recently speaking to the psychological and social benefits of group singing.

  • News

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• The emerging voices of Australian film: Largest ever selection of short films by VCA graduates to stream free on MIFF Play

  24 November 2022

  For the third time, films by graduating Film and Television students from the Victorian College of the Arts will feature on MIFF Play, the Australia-wide digital streaming platform of the Melbourne International Film Festival. This year's showcase boasts the largest selection of films in a single se...

  • Film and Television

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• VCA Art Grad Show: The future of art making in Australia on display

  18 November 2022

  The 23 November marks the celebrated return of the VCA Art Grad Show, featuring new works by the graduating cohort of Art students.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Wilin: fanning the flame for 20 years

  08 November 2022

  by Sarah HallWilin, which means ‘fire’ or ‘flame’ in the Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung languages, has been part of the land where the Wilin Centre now stands since time immemorial. Art and music too, have always been part of its story.

  • Wilin Centre For Indigenous Arts And Cultural Development

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• Explainer: What are non-traditional research outputs, and why do they matter?

  08 November 2022

  In this new Explainer for the University's Research website, Professor Marie Sierra writes on the noteworthy contributions and growing influence of NTROs. She argues that it is time to challenge the white Western notions of intelligence and knowledge-sharing that dominate what we consider ‘valid’ re...

  • News

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• Piers Lane (AO) announced as recipient of 2022 Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award

  01 November 2022

  Acclaimed pianist, Piers Lane (AO), has been awarded the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award at a  concert with Joseph Calleja and Amelia Farrugia.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• ‘Embrace your own strange notions': Choreographer Lucy Guerin on working with third year dancers at the VCA

  11 October 2022

  In her latest work with third year dance students at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), award-winning choreographer, Lucy Guerin, takes her inspiration from the students themselves. We spoke with Lucy about the creative process, and the critical lessons learnt during her remarkable career.

  • Dance

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• Getting match fit: VCA Acting students bring the drama of sport on stage

  27 September 2022

  In October this year, graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) students will take to the stage in two exhilarating and physically demanding plays: Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves, which explores the experiences of a high school’s all-girl soccer team, and 37, a never-before-performed play by...

  • Acting

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• 'Whichever avenue we go down, we’re supported fully': Hear from Master of Producing students Lucinda and Andy

  27 September 2022

  When you’re a screen producer, there’s always something to do – whether it’s honing scripts, keeping the budget on track or ensuring an on-set snack supply. We spoke with Master of Producing students Lucinda Halls and Andy Johnston about their experience in their degree (now ...

  • Film and Television

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• VCA alumni chosen for the coveted Impact Australia screenwriting program

  27 September 2022

  Impact Australia was launched this week at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music was delighted to learn that three of our alumni Dannika Horvat, Jordan Prosser and Elias Jamieson Brown were among those chosen to participate in the...

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Vale Shirley McKechnie AO (1926 - 2022)

  13 September 2022

  The Victorian College of the Arts joins the Australian dance community in mourning the loss of the indelible, Shirley McKechnie AO, who throughout her life remained a seminal figure of Australian dance as an educator, researcher, and advocate.McKechnie’s legacy is felt deeply across the broade...

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• 'I wanted to stand out from the crowd': Meet Master of Producing graduate Mario Biancacci

  12 September 2022

  Mario Biancacci’s path to being an international film producer wasn’t exactly pre-ordained. But he’s made his way from a Bachelor of Science to a Robbie Williams biopic with adaptability, resilience and an eye for the bigger picture – as well as a graduate degree in producing...

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Melbourne Conservatorium of Music students to perform with Melissa Aldana at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival

  05 September 2022

  A new partnership with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) will enable University of Melbourne students from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music to perform at Australia’s largest jazz festival, an annual celebration that showcases the highest calibre of jazz and improvised music...

  • News

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• Looking forward: Director Dialogues address key areas of focus for the VCA in its 50th year

  31 August 2022

  The Victorian College of the Arts’ (VCA) 50th anniversary represents a chance to reflect on the last half-century of arts practice in Naarm/Melbourne and position itself for the next.

  • VCA 50

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• 'If you can show call opera, you can show call anything': Meet Will Barker, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) graduate

  30 August 2022

  It might seem like a long road from your living room to the Sydney Opera House, but for Will Barker, the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) helped him make that leap. Will talked to us about his study experience and the hustle of a creative career – and how he went from miniature set models to...

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• Joining the band: How new music technologies are helping students with disability access music education

  25 August 2022

  Dr Anthea Skinner is a musicologist with a lived experience of disability. Inspired by her own experiences growing up, Dr Skinner has launched the Adaptive Music Bridging Program with Melbourne Youth Orchestras to help others with disability access music education and learn a musical instrument.

  • Research

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• A powerful musical experience: University of Melbourne Orchestra to perform Mahler 2

  25 August 2022

  The University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will be returning soon to the Hamer Hall stage with Mahler’s mighty Second Symphony (The Resurrection), led by their Chief Conductor, Associate Professor Richard Davis.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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• Adult survivors take back their power in documentary film 'Left Write Hook'

  25 August 2022

  Left Write Hook is a new documentary film focusing on a University of Melbourne-supported program helping adult survivors take back their power.

  • Victorian College of the Arts

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• The music app supporting dementia care at home

  23 August 2022

  A new app aims to train family carers of people with dementia to use music to support care and manage symptoms at home, says University of Melbourne expert.

  • Music, Arts & Screen

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• Podcast: Professor Sally Smart, “The power of artists is extraordinary”

  17 August 2022

  The Expert Hack Podcast sat down with Victorian College of the Arts alumna artist Professor Sally Smart to discuss how artists are influencing politics and social change.

  • Visual Art

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• Inside the musician: Stuart Greenbaum: Emerging from the darkness

  15 August 2022

  Professor in Composition at the Conservatorium, Stuart Greenbaum, has released 'A Trillion Miles of Darkness', a new album of soulful, evocative music featuring the clarinet.

  • Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

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