Performing arts | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Performing arts

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Paolo Giorza's 1879 Exhibition album for piano.

Paolo Giorza's 1879 Exhibition album for piano, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-165951572

Music collection

The music collection contains over 300,000 musical scores and the largest collection of music research resources in Australia.

Information article
Cover of the program with Dame Nellie Melba's portrait wearing a tiara

Rachel & Verlaine Pitt-Rivers, Chanson d'automne, W.H. Paling & Co, 1922, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-168708778

Melba Collection

Discover the legacy of Dame Nellie Melba, one of opera’s greatest voices, through her unique collection. Featuring sheet music, personal letters, and rare items from her iconic career, this collection offers an intimate glimpse into her rise from Australian talent to international soprano. Explore her artistry, personal connections, and lasting impact on the world of opera.

Collection guide
Four men posing in dress suits holding musical instruments.

Benvenuti Family (l to r - Victorio Guiseppi, Luigi Antonio, Italo Angelo and Antonio Giovanni), 1890, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143662956

Benvenuti Collection

Memorabilia of musical, theatrical, social events in Queensland collected by the Benvenuti family musicians.

Collection guide
Hand drawn picture of a smartly dressed middle aged man with a moustache

Phillip-Stephan Photo-Litho. and Typographic Process Company, Portrait of Mr. Frederic H Cowen, musical conductor at the Centennial Exhibition, 188?, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137138084

Brady Collection

Overseas and Australian sheet music, including some manuscripts, with the main strengths popular songs and piano music of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Collection guide
Ballerina Justine Summers strikes a pose for the camera. She is standing en point wearing a black tutu. She is standing infront of a textured curtain. She is staring directly at the camera.

Jim McFarlane, Justine Summers in "Divergence", the Australian Ballet, 1994, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136367403

On stage

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: The Arts for years 5 & 6 students.

Digital Classroom
Michael Raditya standing in the Main Reading Room and smiling

2025 Asia Study Grant recipient, Mr Michael Haryo Bagus Raditya

Indonesian dangdut music: evolution, connections, perception

Learn about how 2025 Asia Study Grant recipient Michael Raditya used the Library's collection grow his research on the Indonesian music genre dangdut.

Blog
Collection guide
Willis Collection

One of the largest oral history collections in Australia with recordings of over 900 individuals in all States, as well as folk groups, singing groups, bands and choirs.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Meredith Collection

Recordings of Australian folk songs, dance music, recitations and oral history, collected by folklorist John Meredith (1920–2001). The collection also includes photographs and manuscripts documenting folk traditions and the bush music revival.

Collection guide
Print of two women in dresses holding hands. One has a trumpet in her other hands and is leaning over a sign reading 'Free Masons Hall Readings & Music'. Photoshopped on top is a teal circle with text reading 'Friends Event'

John Thornthwaite and Mather Brown, Ticket for an Evening of ‘Readings & Music’ Held at Free Masons Hall, c. 1790, from the Papers of Jamie and Michael Kassler, 1790-2021, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5977647

Coffee with the Curator: The Excellencies of Musick

Dr Susannah Helman provided her insights into the Jamie and Michael Kassler Collection.

Event
Book open to title page with text reading 'M. S. Armstrong', 'Plays in on act', 'Thomas', 'Penny Dreadful', 'Drought' and 'Published by Edwards & Shaw Sydney'

Millicent Armstrong, Plays in One Act, 1958, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2333051

Discovering and reviving the plays of Millicent Armstrong

Hear from Dianna Nixon about how she's bring the plays of Milicent Armstrong back to life.

Blog
Collection guide
Fahey Collection

Personal papers of Warren Fahey’s activities as an entrepreneur, musician and writer from 1967-1998 and a collection of folkloric recordings.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Symphony Australia Collection

Discover the Symphony Australia Collection, featuring unpublished music by Australian composers from 1910 to 1970, including Alfred Hill, Peter Sculthorpe, and Margaret Sutherland. With chamber, choral, orchestral, and vocal pieces, as well as works from the colonial era and Eugene Goossens, this collection, donated in 2001, is a key resource in Australian music history.

Collection guide

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