
Brisbane Airport continues to be a proud partner to many arts and culture not-for-profits due to the phenomenal cultural development that they bring to our city and the visitors they draw in from all around Australia and the world.
In 2022, our arts partners have a season of enticing, mesmerising and thought-provoking performances for you.
A big cheers to full theatres, teeming galleries, audiences from all over the country and, finally, the world! Here's to a year packed with compelling events in Brisbane.
We'll be in the audience showing our support, will you?
Autumn events in Brisbane: March - May 2022
The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10)
Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art
Now until 25 April 2022
Immerse yourself in the most compelling new artwork being produced across Asia, the Pacific and Australia this summer at APT10 at QAGOMA.
‘The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT10) is an international, vibrant celebration of contemporary art spread across the whole of the Gallery of Modern Art and key spaces at Queensland Art Gallery.
The artists draw on deep histories, current urgencies and cultural encounters that have shaped art and life across the Asia Pacific.
Connect with art, spend time with family and friends, broadening your horizons as you explore the future of art and the world we inhabit together.
Free Entry
Queensland Theatre: Bernhardt/Hamlet
Bille Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
28 May - 18 June 2022
To be, or not to be… theatre star Sarah Bernhardt absolutely will be.
It’s Paris in 1899, and star of the stage Sarah Bernhardt has set her sights on playing Hamlet. Too old to play the ingenue and too bored to play the stale roles written for women, the diva needs a genuine crowd-pleaser to save her debt-ridden theatre. What better work than Shakespeare’s finest play? And who better to take on the greatest part ever written than the greatest actress of the century?
A vivid real-life backstage story by American playwright Theresa Rebeck, Bernhardt/Hamlet is a fast-moving, audacious comedy about a 19th century woman issuing a challenge to the system that still resonates today. History may not repeat, but it certainly does rhyme.
Winter events in Brisbane: June - August 2022
Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra and Orava Quartet: Orava Quartet in Mad Piper
The Edge, State Library of Queensland
Saturday 25 June 2022
Orava Quartet have been the ‘Quartet-in-Residence’ with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra since 2014. This performance is a fiery program that will ignite the love of folk music through its Spanish dances, ‘mad’ Scottish pipe renditions and Slavic rhythms.
Manuel De Falla’s “The Three-Cornered Hat” is a ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine, commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev. With its premiere in 1919, it still burns with brilliance and intensity. The Miller’s Dance portrays both bull and bullfighter in a fury of athleticism, and into a Flamenco farruca, a ferociously intense dance. The music is passionate and full of lush Spanish harmonies and rhythms.
Pavel Fischer's 'Mad Piper' quartet, composed in 2011, takes its inspiration from pipers of Scotland and continental Europe, namely the brave Piper Bill who played bagpipes whilst under fire during the D-Day landing in Normandy. The quartet draws on Scottish, Czech, Bulgarian and Romanian folk music, blending traditional and western art music, and brimming with legends and wild energy.
Dvorak’s quintet features an unusual addition of the double bass, liberating the cello to a higher and more lyrical line, and giving a lush and full sound. Full of drive and drama, and a fresh rhythmic vitality evoking the vibrant folk dance music of his native land. Written in 1875 at 32 years old, and revised at 47, Dvořák’s maturing compositional technical skill is evident, with touches of fire, melancholy, lyricism and nobility on display. Orava is joined by Camerata's double bassist, Marian Heckenberg, for this piece.
“The quartet is known for lively and passionate performances, and this was no exception … a thoroughly enjoyable concert.” The Creative Issue, July 2021 (live review, Brisbane Music Festival)
Queensland Theatre: ROBYN ARCHER: AN AUSTRALIAN SONGBOOK, devised and performed by Robyn Archer
Bille Brown Theatre, South Brisbane
25 June - 9 July 2022
Australia as you’ve never heard it before.
Robyn Archer — Australian legend, industry pioneer and provocateur — has delighted audiences around the world with her powerhouse shows. Singing songs from the underground cabarets of the Weimar Republic, the salons of 19th century France and the folk clubs and Broadway stages of New York City, Robyn has conjured the works of Bertolt Brecht, Edith Piaf, Woody Guthrie and countless others. Now, she’s coming home.
Robyn’s wealth of musical knowledge is distilled into a fearless, political and personal celebration of the way song has shaped Australian identity. It’s a melodic road trip through more than 150 years of ‘other’ Australian song, as Robyn explores the music of her upbringing and the countless rhythms and voices that are woven into the unique sonic fabric of this country.
A trio of Australia’s finest musical artists join Robyn to transform the Bille Brown Theatre into a cabaret stage: piano accordion virtuoso George Butrumlis, actor and multi-instrumentalist Cameron Goodall of The Audreys on guitar, and composer Enio Pozzebon on keyboards.
Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra: Illuminations
Concert Hall, QPAC
Thursday 7 July 2022
French chic meets British refinement in Illuminations, where Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra performs classic works by Elgar, Debussy, and Britten.
A bright and vivid song cycle, Britten's “Les Illuminations” pairs soprano Sofia Troncoso’s “impressive…powerful voice” (Limelight Magazine) with some of the most glorious and moving string sounds that you will hear. Coupled with the deeply sensual French poetry of Rimbaud, Britten’s song cycle with its sparkling orchestral sounds and divine vocal lines expresses sheer beauty.
Be immersed in the charming expression of Elgar’s elegant Serenade of Strings that reaches a wistful conclusion and sets up the gentle mood of this beautiful concert.
There will also be a performance of a brand-new, tailor-made arrangement of the great Claude Debussy’s String Quartet. Arranged for string orchestra by Camerata founding violinist, Gail Aitken (now principal violinist with Queensland Symphony Orchestra), the sublime and impassioned slow movement is simply to die for.
Queensland Theatre: The Sunshine Club
Playhouse, QPAC
9 - 30 July 2022
Swing into The Sunshine Club where everyone is welcome and romances bloom. Now is the perfect time for the revival of this radiant and joyful Brisbane musical.
It’s the summer of 1946, and the war is over. Aboriginal soldier Frank Doyle has spent years fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with troops from all over Australia, but when he steps onto the Brisbane wharf he finds some things haven’t changed – despite his service. But Frank knows how to fight for his country.
It’s been a long war and Frank just wants a better life — the simple pleasures of music and laughter, a place where he can dance with Rose, the beautiful girl next door. Filled with hope and defiance, Frank sets up his own ballroom, The Sunshine Club, where everyone is invited to meet, mingle and sway the night away.
Queensland Theatre: The Almighty Sometimes
Bille Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
13 August - 3 September 2022
Medicated since she was eight, can a young woman discover who she is without the loving care that has been wrapped around her?
Anna has been on medication for so long she can’t remember who she is without it. All she knows is that once, as a little girl, she was a prodigious writing talent, in possession of a thrilling imagination. Has this been lost to years of pills and prescriptions?
Now 18, Anna is determined to find out, and the possibilities are endless. Could she go to university? Could she have a boyfriend, maybe? Could she even write a work of undeniable genius?
Filled with humour, pain, and a little bit of magic, The Almighty Sometimes explores the complexities of diagnosing children and raising teenagers towards independence.
Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra: Camerata and Lior - Compassion
Concert Hall, QPAC
Friday 2 September 2022
An exciting collaboration that has been years in the making - leading Australian singer/songwriter Lior and Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra will at last come together to perform on the Concert Hall stage (as part of Brisbane Festival’s opening weekend) and in Toowoomba at Empire Theatres.
Lior and renowned Australian composer Nigel Westlake’s award-winning work, Compassion, has transfixed audiences since it was created in 2013. Drawing on profound and poetic insights of Islam and Judaism, the piece is an ever-timely reminder for kindness and the values shared across belief systems.
The program will also include Australian composer Robert Davidson’s From to Here, originally commissioned by Queensland Ballet and recorded by Camerata for Rani Luther’s From. To. Here. This stunning work features the attractive combination of piano and strings and takes the listener on a journey through emotional valleys of excitement, deep pathos, and searing beauty. We think it is one of the best works to emerge from Queensland during 2020 and the premiere in 2021 showed that audiences agree!
Don’t miss this beautiful meeting of musical hearts and minds in this deeply moving and heartfelt performance.
Queensland Theatre: Shakespeare's Othello
Bille Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
10 September - 3 October 2022
Shakespeare’s classic tale of jealousy, betrayal and revenge lands in the Torres Strait.
The Imperial Japanese Navy bear south toward Far North Queensland and the bold Captain Othello and his battalion are all that stand in their way. Off the battlefields, Othello’s life is just as turbulent. He’s secretly married the daughter of a wealthy cane farmer and her envious, spurned suitor has joined forces with a disloyal and resentful officer in a deadly plot to bring down the renowned military hero.
Infusing the narrative of Othello with the history of the battalion brings together two powerful artistic cultures — Shakespeare and Wagadagam — creating an utterly distinctive theatre experience.
Queensland Theatre: First Casualty
Bille Brown Theatre, Queensland Theatre
12 November - 10 December 2022
Afghanistan 2011. Our Australian soldiers. A war no-one wins.
Written by a serving soldier and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, First Casualty is a debut play like no other. It’s an authentic account of the real lives of Australian troops at war — the triumphs and the tragedies, the strains and the sacrifices, the pressure and the release. There’s tension, occasional explosions of violence, and humour, but at its heart First Casualty is about the friendship of the soldiers who have given up so much for their country.
This is not an anti-war story. This is not a pro-war story. This is a story of soldiers — the sons, the husbands, the fathers, the people we love.
Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra
Concert Hall, QPAC
24 November 2022
Experience some of the most glorious music in all of classical music played by a stage full of Queensland based artists (including the long-awaited return of our wind and brass section, affectionately known as “The Camerata Windies”!).
Described as “a triumph of instrumental composition”, Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony has been an audience favourite since its creation and is one of his most celebrated works.
Commanding attention from the very first moment, with intense and dramatic highs, the piece balances expansive, expressive sounds with frequent moments of softness.
Following “Jupiter”, Mozart’s exuberant Sinfonia Concertante will feature violinist Daniel Kowalik and violist Thomas Chawner – one half of Camerata’s Quartet-in-Residence, the Orava Quartet – in a stunningly melded partnership in this most joyous and lyrical work.
The night will be topped off by welcoming a mystery guest for our signature Wild Card segment!