Australian Contemporary Opera Company (ACOCO), with support from the Mietta Foundation, has announced the Mietta Foundation Song Series, a flagship platform for art song that recalls the seminal legacy of the original Mietta Song Competition (1995-2016).
The collaboration brings together ACOCO’s focus on contemporary opera and song with the Mietta Foundation’s distinguished legacy in fostering art song performance and appreciation. The 2026 Mietta Foundation Song Series will present three curated programs showcasing contemporary art song at the Melbourne Recital Centre, followed by regional Victorian venues.
The launch concert will feature an eclectic mix of works for voice and ensemble, and voice with piano, integrating contemporary poetry and text. The three concert series will enable at least one new commission or arrangement and premiere performance.
The first Mietta Foundation Song Series is RADIANT on Friday 31 July 2026, in the Primrose Potter Salon at Melbourne Recital Centre. Framed as an eclectic and joyful selection of new Australian songs curated by ACOCO artistic director Linda Thompson AM, the launch celebration introduces the artistic breadth, intimacy and contemporary spirit that will define the series.
The initial program includes works by William Barton, Elena Kats-Chernin, Sally Whitwell, Linda Kouvaras, Iain Grandage and George Palmer, with words by Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Christina Rossetti, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Edward Lear and Ned Kelly. Featured artists include Rachael Joyce and Christopher Hillier, with Coady Green, the Partridge String Quartet and ACOCO Rising Artists.
The Mietta Foundation carries forward a dual legacy: Initially, that of the late Mietta O’Donnell, the celebrated Melbourne restaurateur, writer and arts patron whose support for singers and art song left a lasting mark on Australia’s cultural life. More recently, the Foundation also commemorates the contribution of the late Patricia O’Donnell to Victoria’s hospitality sector and to the arts and culture of our region.
“The Mietta Foundation Song Series positions art song alongside opera, as a vital part of who we are. It celebrates the human act of composing, interpreting, performing, and collaborative listening that transforms ideas into artistic experiences; connecting us deeply to one another,” said Linda Thompson AM, Artistic Director/Founder of ACOCO.
An additional highlight of ACOCO’s program of events, with the support of the Mietta Foundation, is the 2026 Mietta Foundation Festival Artist-in-Residence, a 12-week residency for an emerging conductor-pianist within ACOCO’s planned Festival of Contemporary Opera and Song in October 2026.
By aligning the song series with the residency, ACOCO and the Mietta Foundation are investing in a sustained ecology through artist employment, new commissions and deeper audience connection.
The first concert in the Mietta Foundation Song Series is RADIANT on Friday 31 July 2026, in the Primrose Potter Salon at Melbourne Recital Centre. For more information, visit: www.acoco.org.au for details.
Image: Deagreez | Roman Samborskyi