The annual Melbourne Festival has unveiled its contemporary music program for 2016, headlined by the likes of Paul Kelly and Camille O’Sullivan, and featuring a huge tribute to the late David Bowie.
Melbourne Festival 2016 will see the likes of iOTA, Tim Rogers, Steve Kilbey, Deborah Conway and Adalita come together to perform the music of Bowie in their own styles over two nights as part of ‘David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed’, which will be backed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Beloved singer-songwriter Paul Kelly and Irish-French musician Camille O’Sullivan will celebrate the words of W.B Yeats and other great Irish poets in ‘Ancient Rain’, where they’ll combine spoken word with new compositions in the theatrical setting of the Arts Centre Playhouse.
Elsewhere, the likes of the Philip Glass Ensemble, Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard, American alt-rocker Grant Lee Phillips and Welsh musician and dancer Gwenno will perform, while Clinton Walker’s ‘Buried Country’ documentary, book and soundtrack album about Indigenous musicians and country music will be immortalised by a cast of singers and songwriters from across the generations.
Saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau are also set to reunite to perform at Melbourne Festival, where they’ll play tracks from their new album Nearness, while the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will perform ‘Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage’ as part of the series’ 50th Anniversary Concert Tour.
Melbourne Festival 2016 kicks off on 6th October, and more acts are still to be announced. Catch the full list of today’s confirmed artists below, and more information at the Melbourne Festival website.
Watch: 2016 Melbourne Festival Highlights
Melbourne Festival 2016 Music Lineup
‘David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed’ — iOTA, Tim Rogers, Steve Kilbey, Deborah Conway and Adalita
Paul Kelly & Camille O’Sullivan — ‘Ancient Rain’
Philip Glass Ensemble — ‘FILM LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE’
Lisa Gerrard
Grant Lee Phillips
Gwenno
‘Buried Country’ — Roger Knox, Auriel Andrew, Luke Peacock & more
Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau
‘Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage’ — Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Cate Le Bon
Julianna Barwick
Robbie Thomson ‘XFRMR/MESS’
Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville — ‘The Triplets of Belleville’
Brad Mehldau
Ensemble Offspring — ‘The Secret Noise’
Zubin Kanga — ‘JOHN CAGE’S SONATAS & INTERLUDES’ & ‘Cyborg Pianist’
Melvyn Tan
+ more to be announced
Melbourne Festival 2016
Tickets on sale 9am Friday, 5th August
Thursday, 6th — Sunday, 23rd October 2016
Various Venues, Melbourne
Tickets: Melbourne Festival
