The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) has released its 2026 Performance Program.
The program features over 300 performances and concerts which will take place throughout the year at its newly opened city campus.
“This program ushers in an exciting new era for WAAPA as we welcome audiences to the Minderoo Centre for Performance Excellence at ECU City,” says Professor David Shirley, Executive Dean of WAAPA.
“Our brand-new performance space and state-of-the-art facility will ensure WAAPA continues its place at the forefront of performing arts training, both nationally and internationally.”
2026 also marks the start of the Premier Visiting Artists Fund which, through the generous support of Minderoo Foundation, will bring the world’s pre-eminent creative artists to WAAPA.
“Our partnership with Minderoo will enable WAAPA to deliver dynamic, highly enabling training and extraordinary performance experiences that serve to inspire and empower both current and future generations of arts practitioners,” says Professor Shirley.
The inaugural Premier Visiting Artist, internationally renowned classical pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk, will be presented next month.
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Described by Roger Woodward as “easily the most compelling pianist of his generation,” the Ukrainian-born Australian pianist will be at WAAPA for a week-long residency and concert.
Gavrylyuk will be followed in October by Grammy-winning jazz composer and bandleader Maria Schneider, who will collaborate with the WAAPA Big Band to perform her celebrated works in the new McCusker Recital Hall.
Other highlights of the 2026 Performance Program include LINK Dance Company’s “Enter Coda” at the Liberty Theatre in May, featuring an excerpt of Hofesh Shechter’s “Grand Finale,” a mid-year production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” at the Heath Ledger Theatre starring the graduating Acting students, and a contemporary Australian reimagining of Euripides’ “The Bacchae” by the Performance Making students.
Copies of the 2026 Performance Program can be picked up in person from the WAAPA Box Office (entry via Roe Street), or downloaded here.