Monash University Performing Arts Centres 2024 Programme Highlights

Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC) has announced a jam-packed programme of events for 2024, including live music, captivating dance, premiere theatre shows and much-loved festivals. Following a stellar year of shows across multiple state-of-the-art venues, audiences can expect more world-class events for unforgettable experiences throughout 2024.

“What makes MPAC so compelling as a destination for lovers of performing arts is that our venues are among the best, featuring the latest technology in theatre and sound, and our jazz club The Count’s is about the best place in greater Melbourne to experience a huge range of cool music, but that’s not the full story. We are part of a dynamic world-renowned university, so we can plug into the research and ideas that are the engine room of Monash and create unique opportunities. I think of it as serious fun.” – Executive Director MPAC, Paul Grabowsky AO

2024 programme highlights include:

Hold Me Closer Tony Danza by The Farm has been commissioned by MPAC, Carriageworks, Dancehouse and the Keir Foundation for the 2020 Keir Choreographic Award. This Melbourne premiere is an immersive dance-theatre experience that offers the audience the chance to to pick a side, show their true colours and get ready to dance-off as if their lives depend on it. It will take place from 1 – 3 May in the David Li Sound Gallery.

St Matthew’s Passion has been commissioned by MPAC and presents a unique and ground-breaking performance of J. S. Bach’s masterpiece. The St Matthew Passion is widely regarded as one of the greatest pieces of Baroque sacred music and will feature at the Alexander Theatre on 24 Mar.

Dancenorth presents Wayfinder on 18 Oct, an exhilarating explosion of heart set to new music by three-time Grammy nominated Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote. Directed by Amber Haines and Kyle Page, Dancenorth Australia joins forces with Hiatus Kaiyote and sound artist Byron J. Scullin to create a soaring composition evoking pleasure and possibility. Wayfinder is presented by MPAC, in association with Melbourne Fringe.

Wayfinder Dancenorth Australia (Photo credit: Amber Haines)

Returning to MPAC in 2024 is Live at The Count’s – a fabulous programme of jazz, soul, blues and contemporary music, produced by one of Melbourne’s most respected jazz vocalists, Chelsea Wilson, running from 21 Feb– 27 Nov, following on from its huge success in 2023. Audiences are welcome to arrive early and enjoy delicious food and drink at the onsite bar and bistro before the show.

La Influencia Live at The Count’s (Photo credit: Albert Comper)

MPAC presents Sundays in the Sound Gallery, with six Sundays of modern chamber music, in the acoustically superb David Li Sound Gallery. Artists include Matthias Shack-Arnott, Joseph Tawadros, Lisa Moore, Ziggy & Miles, Collide and First Nations violinist, Eric Avery.

Joseph Tawadros (Photo credit: Anthony Lycett)

The annual jam-packed school holiday festival of art and live performance Family Fiesta will return in the July school holidays. Families can soak up the lively atmosphere with captivating shows and events, making a day out of it with free babyccinos and fun for the whole family, all at low ticket prices or free.

The Indian Performing Arts Convention (IPAC) returns to the Alexander Theatre for a captivating Carnatic musical and dance showcase on 20 – 26 May. IPAC is an annual celebration of creativity with performances, collaborations and talks by acclaimed musicians and dancers from India, Singapore, and Australia, with a focus on cultivating a new generation of artists, creating new work, and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration.

The Monash Academy Orchestra (MAO) will present three concerts during 2024 in Apr, May and Aug. The performances will be conducted by Roger Benedict, Carolyn Walton and Ben Northey. Featuring the work of Australian composers and more, with students from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance as well as musicians from the wider university community, and professional mentors.

Monash Academy Orchestra (Photo credit: Albert Comper)

Bell Shakespeare, Australia’s national theatre company specialising in the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, will present A Midsummer Night’s Dream, on 16 May. Shakespeare’s classic comedy will be reawakened in this breathless production brimming with magic, mirth and mayhem, taking place in the Alexander Theatre.

A Midsummer Nights Dream Bell Shakespeare

Award-winning Indigenous writer, director and actor Glenn Shea presents Three Magpies Perched in a Tree on 11 Sep for a beautiful, heart-breaking play of the Indigenous Gothic genre that provides spiritual reprieve through Creation Stories.

Glenn Shae in Three Magpies Perched in a Tree (Photo credit: Darren Gill)

Tickets are on sale now at monash.edu/mpac.

About Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC)

Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC) is the public performing arts and cultural arm of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. MPAC venues are vital to the cultural life of the University, and act as a window to Melbourne’s south east community, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors to the university each year. MPAC seeks to connect, challenge and excite its audiences through the commissioning of unique works, along with curating a program that brings the best of local, national and international performing artists to its stages. MPAC is home to five venues, located at the Monash University Clayton and Peninsula campuses; the 561-seat Alexander Theatre, 130-seat David Li Sound Gallery, 150-seat jazz club The Count’s; with weekly gigs and restaurant & bar, plus the 1,598-seat Robert Blackwood Hall and 426-seat George Jenkins Theatre.