Highly accomplished Australian violinist Dale Barltrop has recently concluded a 10 year tenure as Concertmaster with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, having previously held that position with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He’s also appeared as Concertmaster with the Australian World Orchestra, and guest directed the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Camerata. Since 2016, he’s been first violin of the Australian String Quartet.

Dale reflects on a remarkable musical journey that has taken him from Queensland state school music programs and youth orchestras to leading major orchestras in Australia and North America, before ultimately finding a new artistic home with the Australian String Quartet. He discusses the formative influence of inspirational teachers and mentors, the experience of moving alone to the United States as a teenager, and the unexpected path that led him to become concertmaster of both the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Along the way, he shares memories of childhood obsessions with Vivaldi and Rossini, the collaborative thrill of orchestral leadership, and the realities of balancing two highly sought after roles before deciding to devote himself fully to the Australian String Quartet.

This conversation was recorded at the 2025 Australian Festival of Chamber Music. The 2026 festival is in Cairns and runs from July 24 to August 1.

Award-winning actress and director Blazey Best has spent more than three decades working across theatre, television and film. Her theatre credits include Arcadia and Travesties for the Sydney Theatre Company, The Wild Duck for Belvoir, and The Glass Menagerie for the Ensemble, winning Sydney Theatre Awards for her roles in Ivanov, Medea and Miracle City. She’s appeared in a slew of television favourites, from Water Rats to Heartbreak High and numerous feature films including Ruben Guthrie and Stealth. She’s also turned her hand to directing, including Tell Me on a Sunday for Hayes, and Well Behaved Women for Belvoir.

Blazey speaks about her current role in the heartwarming 84 Charing Cross Road currently playing at the Ensemble, and the fascinating challenge of creating intimacy and a developing relationship expressed only through letters. She looks back on her childhood in regional Victoria, roller skating to disco Beethoven and discovering a love of performance through school musicals and youth choirs. She speaks candidly about the realities of life as a “jobbing actor”, from early television guest roles to the emotional rollercoaster of auditions and reviews, and the importance of building a sense of self beyond the profession.

Blazey Best stars in 84 Charing Cross Road at the Ensemble Theatre until June 13.

A comedian and actor who has made audiences around the world laugh for 40 years, Suzy Eddie Izzard, known professionally as Eddie Izzard, began her comedy career in famous London venues including the Comedy Store and the Ambassador Theatre, has appeared in plays on the West End and Broadway (including a Tony nomination for her performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg), and appeared in many television shows such as The Riches and The Day of the Triffids, and films, including Ocean’s 12 and 13. She’s back in Australia for her latest stand up show – The Remix Tour – and is then presenting her one person version of Hamlet.

Suzy reflects on the challenges of sustaining a visceral, emotionally immediate interpretation of Shakespeare alone on stage, and how her background in stand-up and street performance has equipped her for it. She candidly reflects on key milestones of her career, her early rejections, and how her success in stand-up sidetracked her original ambitions to be an actor. We hear about her Tony nomination, her foray into politics and her journey to coming out as trans. All the stories are told with her trademark wit and humour.

Suzy Eddie Izzard performs Hamlet at the Playhouse of the Sydney Opera House June 9-21, the Brisbane Powerhouse June 24-27, Arts Centre Melbourne Fairfax Studio from June 30 to July 12, the Perth Heath Ledger Theatre July 27-28 and the Canberra Theatre Centre from July 31 to August 2. She also performs Hamlet in Auckland and Wellington.