The Latrobe Orchestra Inc. and Lavalla Catholic College Music Department are excited to return to the stage after an almost 3-year hiatus.

Saturday 14 May | 5PM | GPAC Theatre

Rescheduled Date

In collaboration with Lavalla Catholic College, you are invited to a twilight gala of community music in the brand-new, spectacular Gippsland Performing Arts Centre. Come and share in this celebration.

Celebration is an event for the whole community; a celebration of our local musician’s first performance on the magnificent GPAC stage; a celebration of community music making after the disruptions of the past 2 years. It is a celebration of being together.

The Latrobe Orchestra Inc. (LOI) have been an integral part of the musical landscape in Latrobe City and the wider Gippsland region for 61 years, expanding from a group of keen chamber musicians, to a thriving Beginner String Program and full orchestra here today. They look forward to performing a variety of repertoire, including Meyer’s Celebration, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance, and a rousing arrangement of New York, New York. Our Beginner String Program musicians join the stage for Vivaldi’s The Hunt and Mouret’s Fanfare Roundeau.

The Lavalla Catholic College Music Department offer secondary school musicians the opportunity to learn instruments and perform in Concert Bands, Jazz Ensembles and Choirs. Students are committed and keen to follow their passion, often attending 3 and more before school rehearsals per week. Events of the past 2 years have meant the department is in a rebuilding phase, whilst looking to support and reward the students and families who have persisted with online learning throughout covid. We know you will enjoy and support the efforts these students and staff have made to present their ensembles today.

Running Time: 90 minutes, no interval

We’ve whipped up a cocktail of groove-filled bands, DJs, food, local brews and a perfect setting to make magic happen.

Friday 25 March | 5PM - 9PM | Outdoors

Get ready for twilight hangs, great music and good vibes in your new outdoor space. Teaming up with not-for-profit label Music in Exile, we're featuring headline artists from culturally diverse communities alongside local acts.

Plus, enjoy local brews from Good Land Brewing Co. and moreish nibbles. We're here for it.

AUSECUMA BEATS

Ausecuma Beats are more than just a band, they are a philosophy. Led by their fearless bandleader and master djembe player, Boubacar Gaye, the nine-strong ensemble demonstrate what can happen when a group of artists come together based on an idea – in this case, the idea of place, of transplanting cultural heritage into a contemporary city. Ausecuma Beats are a representation of what is possible when inclusion and diversity are celebrated. Musically, each individual artist brings their own unique sound. However, when these musicians join together they create a powerhouse full of energy, grooves and joy. It is the way these incredible musicians join together that makes the group truly impressive.

GORDON KOANG

Gordon Koang Duoth is a Neur speaker and musician hailing from the Upper Nile region of what is now South Sudan. Accompanied by his cousin Paul Biel, Gordon performs a blend of traditional Neur rhythms and original compositions in English, Arabic, and his native language, Neur.

FRIDAY HANG DATES

• Friday 11 March | Ajak Kwai + Allysha Joy
• Friday 18 March | Chikchika + Camille
• Friday 25 March | Ausecuma Beats + Gordon Koang

Find Out More

Presented in partnership with Music in Exile. Music in Exile is a not-for-profit championing Australian artists from refugee, migrant and diaspora backgrounds.

We’ve whipped up a cocktail of groove-filled bands, DJs, food, local brews and a perfect setting to make magic happen.

Friday 18 March | 5PM - 9PM | Outdoors

Get ready for twilight hangs, great music and good vibes in your new outdoor space. Teaming up with not-for-profit label Music in Exile, we're featuring headline artists from culturally diverse communities alongside local acts.

Plus, enjoy local brews from Good Land Brewing Co. and moreish nibbles. We're here for it.

CHIKCHIKA

Chikchika began as a fun collaboration between Music Yared and Mulu Baqqalaa, and has grown to a powerful project in its own right. Mulu, a legend in Ethiopia, where she has been actively performing and recording music for over ten years, is joined by Anbessa Gebrehiwot and Haftu Reda, two Tigrinya vocalists and masters of their traditional Eritrean and Ethiopian stringed instruments, the krar and masinko. The trio is accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Dale Gorfinkel and Tawanda Gadzikwa on drums to create an innovative new sound that pays homage to the traditions of East Africa.

CAMILLE EL FEGHALI

Camille el Feghali is a master of the Qanoun (a middle eastern zither) and the Nay (a middle eastern flute). He also harbours a healthy interest in electronic and experimental music, and is interested in different ways to use traditional instrumentation in these contexts. We eagerly await the results of his new collaboration with Melbourne based experimental pop musicians, Zak Olsen, better known for his work with contemporary rock bands ORB and Traffik Island.

FRIDAY HANG DATES

• Friday 11 March | Ajak Kwai + Allysha Joy
• Friday 18 March | Chikchika + Camille
• Friday 25 March | Ausecuma Beats + Gordon Koang

See All Events

Presented in partnership with Music in Exile. Music in Exile is a not-for-profit championing Australian artists from refugee, migrant and diaspora backgrounds.   

We’ve whipped up a cocktail of groove-filled bands, DJs, food, local brews and a perfect setting to make magic happen.  

Friday 11 March | 5PM - 9PM | Outdoors

Get ready for twilight hangs, great music and good vibes in your new outdoor space. Teaming up with not-for-profit label Music in Exile, we're featuring headline artists from culturally diverse communities alongside local acts.

Plus, enjoy local brews from Good Land Brewing Co. and moreish nibbles. We're here for it.

AJAK KWAI 

This summer, renowned South Sudanese/Australian vocalist Ajak Kwai is taking her full band on tour across regional Victoria and beyond in support of 2021’s outstanding EP, Red Sands.  

Red Sands is sonically akin to the groove-orientated, politically powerful afrobeat and funk sounds coming out of South and West African nations in the 1970s, sitting somewhere between the infectious pop of the Lijadu Sisters and a more modern desert blues sound of groups like Tinariwen and Mdou Moctar.

ALLYSHA JOY 

Well versed in poetry and performance, Allysha Joy’s potent lyricism, unique musicianship and killer vocals have garnered legions of attentive fans the world over. She’s an integral member of the Melbourne soul jazz scene, known as part of the acclaimed 30/70 Collective and for her own equally revered solo work.

FRIDAY HANG DATES

• Friday 11 March | Ajak Kwai + Allysha Joy
• Friday 18 March | Chikchika + Camille
• Friday 25 March | Ausecuma Beats + Gordon Koang

Find Out More

Presented in partnership with Music in Exile. Music in Exile is a not-for-profit championing Australian artists from refugee, migrant and diaspora backgrounds.   

These Aussie legends are heading our way with great mates, The Fauves.

Saturday 9 April | 8PM | GPAC Theatre

We’ve heard a few stories about Regurgitator ripping out set or two in Traralgon back in the day. Now they’re heading back our way with great mates, The Fauves!

Formed in March 1994…core members Ben Ely and Quan Yeomans started the band as a side project to the bands they had going at the time - Pangaea, Zooerastia etc but quickly became the ascendant project. Regurgitator was an approrpiate moniker to describe the assembled mass of styles, sounds and attitudes, fueled as much by an unmitigated irony and geekish nature as an irreverent take on themselves, corporatisation of culture and human social behaviour.

Never ones to compromise or shy away from the unusual, the untried, or any genre that infects their creative sensibility… more than ever they continue to infuse their irregular live performances with exuberance, mania and their mashedup motion of rock, punk, electro, funk, pop, where ever it goes vibe. 

Regurgitator… but for KIDS! YIPPEE!!

Sunday 10 April | GPAC Theatre | 11AM

Renowned Brisbane mashup rock/electro/punk/poppin’ fun time outfit Regurgitator have cooked up a sugar-soaked record written especially for kids and are bringing it live to GPAC!

This new project sees long-time Regurgitator trio Ben Ely, Quan Yeomans and Pete Kostic joined by the effervescent Koko direct from Planet Rainbow. It’s already struck a chord with families around the country – with the POGOGO SHOW album having quickly climbed to #1 on the Children’s iTunes chart. 

  

The band’s wildly-varied roller coaster of sounds will come as no surprise to long-time fans. From the slinky hip-hop stylings of first single ‘The Box’ and the elastic hop-scotch energy of ‘Pogogo Show Theme’; to the punk rock mania of ‘Pillow Fight’ and tropicalia fun of ‘Corumbo’, young listeners will enjoy the spin of the musical wheel. 

 

The band have never been more excited: “We’ve got our tiny amplifiers warmed up, our teeny drum kits tuned and plenty of soap for our filthy little mouths. We’re ready to shout till our voices are wrecked, if you’re ready to scream till your parents are deaf!”

The ‘Gurge are here to bring a smile to long term fans and the tiny folk in their lives.

Be a 10 Minute Dance Party DJ at Gippsland Performing Arts Centre's OPEN Festival! 

Tuesday 1 March | 6PM | Latrobe Regional Gallery

Join the mastermind of 10 Minute Dance Parties, JOF, to learn how to DJ at this FREE workshop at Latrobe Regional Gallery and then show off your new skills at the Big Family Weekender on Saturday 5 or Sunday 6 March as part of GPAC's OPEN festival. This is just for 11 – 19 year olds! 

You'll learn: 

• DJ skills
• Tech operation 
• Curating playlists for dance parties
• Generating activities and choreography for dance parties
• Real life performance skills at the Big Family Weekender on Saturday 5 or Sunday 6 March

This workshop and performance opportunity is open to anyone aged 11 - 19 years old. Get in quick, this workshop has a maximum of 20 participants.

Get ready to be a party starter!

‘Kids Music That Doesn’t Suck!’ Zoë Foster Blake, children’s author.

Sunday 13 March | 1:30PM | GPAC Theatre

Join much-loved children’s band the Teeny Tiny Stevies as they perform ‘I Ate a Rainbow’, ‘Boy or Girl Colour’ and ‘Boss of My Own Body’, plus a selection of favourite songs from their brand-new album.  

Featuring irresistible melodies and helpful tips for navigating life’s little challenges, sisters Byll and Beth perform music that keeps kids entertained without driving parents crazy.

This gig will be super fun for the whole family! 

‘Teeny Tiny Stevies have achieved the impossible – they have made children’s music that won’t rob adults of their will to live.’ The Brisbane Times

Presented in partnership with TEG VAN EGMOND

We’re here to champion local talent.

Sunday 3 April | 7PM | GPAC Theatre

What better way to kick things off than with two of Gippsland’s finest. 

Two times Platinum, eight times Gold and an APRA Award winning artist, Jack Jones has entertained audiences across Australia and the globe. What many of us know locally, is that Jack spent his formative years here in the Latrobe Valley.

Jack will be joined by local soul and jazz musician Elly Poletti. Having recently supported Kate Ceberano, she will open this very special evening. 

This will be one for the memory bank.

 

Dust off those sequined jumpsuits!

Friday 6 May | 8PM | GPAC Theatre - ALLOCATION EXHAUSTED

It's time to sing, dance and have the time of your life when the World’s Number One ABBA show Bjorn Again rolls into GPAC.

Bjorn Again have played in over 120 countries, are a household name world-wide and are openly endorsed by the members of ABBA. Their shows have been attended by JK Rowling, Tom Jones, Dave Grohl and Paul Kelly, Metallica and Nirvana just to name a few.

 

Internationally acclaimed Bjorn Again will play all of ABBA’s biggest hits and more in an action-packed, highly-entertaining night of ABBA-solute fun for the whole family. You will be singing and dancing in the aisles before you can ring-ring Fernando and Chiquitita and send out an SOS.

"If ABBA reformed they wouldn’t be as much fun as Bjorn Again"

 Q Magazine UK

 

“One of the most entertaining live shows in the world today”

Time Out New York 

Rescheduled from Latrobe Performing Arts Centre (2021).