Melbourne International Arts Festival

The Festival asked some of the world’s finest singers to reflect on our theme of spirituality and mortality with the question: ‘Which seven songs would you leave behind?’ The result is this unforgettable night of music.

The world seen through the eyes of Charles Darwin forms the basis for the performance Tomorrow, in a year, a revolutionary electronic feast for the senses from Danish contemporary opera auteurs Hotel Pro Forma.

This Festival all eyes will be on the sky for outdoor Argentine-Spanish theatre troupe Grupo Puja!’s for K@osmos, a breathtaking aerial extravaganza for the whole family to enjoy.

The Beck's Festival Bar program opens with Japan's iconoclastic experimental music unit Bordeoms, supported by the ever-changing all-instrumental art-rock outfit Kes Band and freakoids Bum Creek.

The Calder Quartet is renowned for performing traditional quartet repertoire as well as partnering with modern composers, emerging musicians and performers across genres.

From Finucane & Smith, the world's pre-eminent purveyors of provocactive variety and intimate spectacle, including the award-winning The Burlesque Hour, comes a world of mysterious entertainment. 

Get ready to rock as US heavy psychedelic rock group Dead Meadow are joined by Sri Lankan extreme metal ensemble Stigmata, making their Australian debut, and experimental psych lords Blarke Bayer/Black Widow.

Enjoy a Festival surfing safari with Dengue Fever's psychedlic take on the Cambodian pop sounds of the '60s. Joining them are new surf rock outfit The Break and cosmic surf riders Johnnie and the Johnnie Johnnies.

Inspired by nature, en masse is part concert, part film, part installation and a unique Festival experience.

epi-thet uses data from public domain genetic databases to create sound and image in an extraordinary composition contemplating the exquisite beauty in science.

Join stalwarts of the US indie music scene, Low, in a special one-off Australian performance. Supporting Low are dynamic four-piece Pikelet and the tropical synth-pop project Ponzu Island,

After appearances around the world with The Black Arm Band Ursula Yovich brings her soulful one-woman cabaret show to the Festival.

Finish your Festival with this upbeat celebratory gig, as LA-based punk band The Bronx bring their alter ego Mariachi El Bronx to Melbourne. Joining the fun are refined and chaotic eight-piece group Eagle & The Worm and the crooning, swooning Ukeladies.

Join John Cale for an intimate evening of music, multimedia and a good old fashioned chat about this influential artist's incredible career.

Northern Trax is a series of performance installations delivered by the crew from Anti Racism Action Band based on their own lives in Melbourne’s Zone 2.

Register yourself or your group to be a participant in the Pop-Up Project and help create an exciting and surprising Festival event!

The latest performance work from artist David Chesworth is an evocative exploration of the limits of representation and direct action.

Rap and hip hop fans are in for a real treat as the reigning agent provocateur of hip hop, Sage Francis, heads to the Beck's Festival Bar with special guest B. Dolan. Support comes from four-time Australian DMC champ Dexter and Sydney duo Horrorshow.

The Australian Art Orchestra brings to the Festival two new multimedia works, including the world premiere of Soak, in a concert to excite contemporary music lovers.

Local heros The Drones bring their unique sound to Beck's Festival Bar for a gig supported by P.K.14, one of the most influential bands on the Chinese indie scene, and loveable Melbourne scallywags The Twerps.

The Festival’s Adès celebration begins with his landmark collaboration with the innovative US string group, the Calder Quartet.

One of Britain’s greatest living composers, Thomas Adès conducts the internationally renowned Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring some of Adès’ most acclaimed work.

Thomas Adès directs musicians of the Australian National Academy of Music in a program of his own music and of music close to his heart.

Legendary member of The Velvet Underground and acclaimed composer John Cale performs his seminal solo album, Paris 1919 and dips into his extensive songbook in a spectacular live performance accompanied by members of his band and Orchestra Victoria.