Performing arts | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Performing arts

Showing 37 - 48 of 69 results
Collection guide
Lyle Collection

50 oral history recordings with 149 interviewees containing reminiscences, stories and music relating to Scottish oral traditions in Australia.

Collection guide
A page of handwritten music notations with composer Luke Styles wearing a black t-shirt
Living Collection: The music of Luke Styles

Through musical performance and conversation, we explore the Library's collection of works by acclaimed composer Luke Styles.

Event
Collection guide
Leighton Collection

This small but significant collection of early 20th-century German and Austrian books includes poetry, plays, novels, essays, fairytales, folklore, art books, memoirs, and works on theatre and opera. Many are rare or limited editions, notable for their fine bindings and illustrations.

Collection guide
Guida di Musica - preface

Hook begins his book with this preface.

Learning the piano at the Library

Ever wondered how people learned the piano in the 1780s, 1880s and 1980s?

Blog
Two costume designs, one for a man the other for a woman, with annotations. The man's costume features a blue and green shirt with puffy sleeves, a brown vest, boots, a blue hat and an optional blue cloak. The woman's costume is an orange gown with a small headpiece.

Costume and set sketches - Twelfth Night, 1968, from the papers of Kristian Fredrikson, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3139276048

Kristian Fredrikson costume designs for the plays of William Shakespeare

Explore the crossover of two masters of their crafts with these beautiful sketches and designs.

Blog
Costume designs for Cochenille, Spalanzani and Guests from 'The Tales of Hoffmann', State Opera of South Australia 1982

Kenneth Rowell, Costume designs for Cochenille, Spalanzani and Guests (detail), The Tales of Hoffmann, State Opera of South Australia 1982, Kenneth Leslie Rowell Costume Design Archive (Pictures), nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn6938134

Kenneth Rowell: Designer for the Stage

This collection-in-focus display highlighted the work of Melbourne-born painter and designer Kenneth Rowell.

Exhibition
Title page of a landscape oriented printed book: ornate engraving featuring musical performers. Scene is framed by theatre curtains.

James Hook, Guida di Musica: Being a Complete Book of Instructions for Beginners on the Harpsichord or Piano Forte, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8650184

Kassler Collection

Books on music and printed music published in Britain from the mid-17th century to the 20th century.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Italian Drama Collection

1,011 plays and libretti published in Italy between about 1,720 and 1,900 including a number of Italian translations of plays written by French, German and other European dramatists.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Ingram Collection

Photographs, programs, cast lists, souvenir booklets, invitations and ephemera relating to Australian ballet, plus personal papers of Geoffrey Ingram and Edouard and Xenia Borovansky.

Collection guide
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
Howard Collection

Collection of Australian drama consisting of 197 unpublished plays in typescript or manuscript form by Australian authors.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Hince Collection

Albums and pieces of sheet music published in Australia and overseas, around 2700 books and pamphlets, mostly related to Western music, manuscript scores, papers from some composers and orchestras, and personal papers of Kenneth Hince.

Collection guide

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