Limelight has just announced the results of the public vote for its 2025 Artists of the Year, which has had an unprecedented increase in voter participation over the last two years; a response for which we can take some credit! In 2024, Giving Culture came on board as a supporter by providing a Gold Voucher as a prize for four lucky voters in the Limelight poll.
So which artists picked up the awards?
- Simone Young won the Australian Artist of the Year in both the Critics’ and People’s Choice categories.
- Sir Stephen Hough received the Critics’ International Artist of the Year Award and The Tallis Scholars won the People’s Choice vote.
- Abel Selaocoe and Australian Chamber Orchestra won the Giving Culture Award for the People’s Favourite Performance, voted for by Limelight’s readers.
Limelight also recently covered the findings from a review of national data that highlighted a “polycrisis” for arts and creative education in Australia. Despite the Australian arts and culture sector employing more people than the resources industry and contributing $67.4 billion to our economy, there’s been a steady decline in arts subject enrolments in secondary and tertiary education since 2018. We really need both our public and private sectors to step up and support the arts at this foundational level, or we risk the sector’s long-term future.
In news closer to home, we have another significant batch of culture vouchers that will be expiring at the end of March 2026. If you are a voucher holder, please check your expiry now and make sure you redeem before it runs out!
If you’d like more information about Giving Culture, contact us or sign up to our monthly emails at givingculture.com.au/contact. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn for other updates and posts on what’s happening at Giving Culture, and in the arts and culture scene in Australia.
Sydney Film Festival
A Flexipass could be your ticket to Canada! Thanks to Air Canada, SFF is giving away a cinematic Canadian holiday for two, including stays at luxurious 5-star hotels Hilton Vancouver Downtown, Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa and Fairmont Chateau Whistler. To go in the running, use your Giving Culture voucher to purchase a 2026 Flexipass or Youth Pass before 17 May.
Click here for more details on SFF’s Air Canada competition.
Australian Chamber Orchestra
Violin virtuoso Ilya Gringolts directs the ACO for The Devil’s Violin, touring to Wollongong, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra from 12-28 March 2026. Gringolts and the ACO explore their shared passion for authentic interpretations of Italian Baroque music in a sparkling program featuring Geminiani, Tartini and Vivaldi – where Gringolts will be joined by ACO Principal Violin Satu Vänskä – performed in contrast with contemporary works. Enigmatic Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s String Quartet No.2 looks to the harmonies of heaven from an unsettled, earthbound soul. Renowned Australian composer Paul Stanhope’s Giving Ground is a dramatic answer to Geminiani’s famous Concerto Grosso.
Experience the violin pushed to its very limits with Gringolts and the ACO, in this fiery display from two of the world’s greats.
You can redeem either an ACO – Gold Voucher or ACO – Silver Voucher to put towards ACO’s The Devil’s Violin.
Incognito Art Show
Join 10,000+ artists and be part of Australia’s biggest and most inclusive art show, where every artwork is sold for just $100. Any artist can take part, no matter their age, experience or skill level.
Each year, thousands of artists from around the world contribute original A5 artworks in any medium, style or subject matter to raise funds for professional development programs supporting artists with disability.
The twist? Buyers only discover who created an artwork after they’ve purchased it.
The Incognito Art Show expands from one to three big shows in 2026, including a sale in Sydney from 24 June to 5 July, Brisbane from 21 to 26 July and a mystery sale later in the year.
Register as a participating artist here and start creating!
In preparation for this year’s exhibition, you can redeem now for an Incognito Art Show – Gold Voucher or an Incognito Art Show – Silver Voucher.
Australian Theatre for Young People
One sweltering summer in small-town Wangaratta, ten-year-olds Maddy and Luke first meet. Here begins their journey through first love, friendship and the ache of growing up.
Equal parts painful and beautiful, Callum Mackay’s enchanting play ‘The Last Train to Madeline’ captures the cost of childhood dreams as we follow the pair from ten to seventeen to twenty-three years old.
Coming to The Popsy next month – 11-21 March – tickets on sale now!
Contact us at info@givingculture.com.au or on (02) 4872 4981 to find out how you can redeem your gold or silver voucher for tickets to this show.
Ensemble Offspring
Tickets are selling fast for EO’s Avant Gardens Summer concerts in Sydney in March, so you will need to move quickly if you have a silver voucher and you’d like to redeem for two tickets for one of these two salon garden performances. The same applies to the Avant Gardens Subscription for gold voucher holders, giving you tickets for the March concerts, as well as the upcoming autumn and spring concerts later in the year in Sydney.
The Australian World Orchestra
In 2026, the Australian World Orchestra proudly celebrates its 15th anniversary. Over the past decade and a half, the AWO has had the privilege of collaborating with an extraordinary roster of conductors, composers, and Australia’s finest musicians, drawn from home and around the world. As the only national orchestra of its kind in the world, these 15 years mark a remarkable achievement for everyone involved.
Continuing this legacy in 2026, the AWO will perform Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky, Symphony No. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich, and present another world premiere: Songs for a Stranger, a new song cycle by Australian composer Jonathan Mills.
Redeem your Gold or Silver Voucher for the Melbourne performance on 19 August at Arts Centre Melbourne, or the Sydney performance on 20 August at Sydney Opera House.