WAAPA has a proud history as the starting point for extraordinary music careers including Tim Minchin, Meg Mac, Amy Manford and Christopher Dragon.
Over the next few months, WAAPA’s Music Department is providing exciting new opportunities for classical music students to visit campus, join free workshops and audition for classical music degrees and diplomas starting in 2025.
For more chances to meet with WAAPA students and get a feel of campus life, there is a host of shows on campus in Mt Lawley, including the weekly Thursday lunchtime concerts.
There’s also more than 30 concerts coming up, including the Nanjing Collaborations starting this week, with students and staff from Nanjing University of the Arts in China performing contemporary, jazz and traditional Chinese music together. Nanjing Collaborations is enabled via a grant from the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. For a full calendar of events, go to the Localista WAAPA events guide.
The upcoming state-of-the-art ECU City campus in Perth’s CBD, launching in Semester One 2026, promises an exhilarating future and there has never been a more exciting time to be part of WAAPA.
Classical FastTRACK 2.0
August 10
Calling all classical vocal students! Perform one of your solo works in a fun and free workshop setting, and WAAPA’s outstanding classical music lecturers will give you advice for enhancing your performance, releasing your inner virtuoso, and achieving your very best. Get tickets here.
Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony Revealed: an ATAR lecture/performance
August 17
Dr Philip Everall, Jessica Gethin and the WAAPA Symphony Orchestra unpack the inspiration, mysteries and meaning of the designated ATAR set work: Amy Beach’s ‘Gaelic Symphony’. Hear this work brought to life on stage in an invaluable learning experience. Tickets are free, get them here.
WAAPA Music Auditions
Closing November 15
Turn your love of music into a rewarding career and be the musician you want to be! Applications for WAAPA’s 2025 music courses are already open. First round of auditions: Sunday 15 September Late round of auditions: Monday 25 November. Find out more here.
Events at WAAPA
WAAPA events are a great chance to see some of Australia’s leading musical and performing talent at the start of their careers. Events like Legally Blonde: The Musical are mostly in smaller, intimate venues at the Mt Lawley campus giving you a front-row experience. Major performances and showcases like TILT and The Songbook Sessions are also performed at bigger venues in Perth and regional WA. See the full calendar of events in the Localista WAAPA events guide.
Exciting new ECU City campus
Opening in 2025
Costing almost a billion dollars, the extraordinary new ECU City Campus is bigger than the WA Museum, bringing thousands of students to the heart of the Perth CBD starting in semester 1, 2026. The new campus spreads across 65,000 square metres and includes eleven levels of classrooms and performance spaces intended to host over 300 WAAPA performances per year.
