Affinity Quartet is back from their third-place triumph at a prestigious international string quartet competition - and back in the library.
Affinity, which holds the mantle as the first group to perform twice in a month at the library, has established itself as one of the country's leading string quartets.
In April they secured third place at the triennial Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London against quartets from Austria, Germany, the USA and France. Contestants perform a classical, romantic and contemporary repertoire and the winning quartets are provided with career development opportunities.
Nicholas Waters (violin), Josephine Chung (violin), Ruby Shirres (viola) and Mee Na Lojewski (cello) will perform at the library on Friday 3rd June from 6pm.
Bookings are essential, either by calling 9650 3100 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The performance is free for members and guests pay just $10. Refreshments will be provided.
Rebecca Barnard’s musical heritage spans generations, and she is continuing the tradition.
In the 1920s her grandparents, Jim and Kath Barnard, ran The Kath Barnard Jazz Band. In the 1940s, their son Len (Rebecca’s father) joined the band at the age of 12. And in 1952 The Len Barnard Jazz Band recorded Australia’s first microgroove LP record.
With that heritage it’s no surprise that Rebecca started singing with her father’s band when she was just 13. She had grown up listening to Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong.
At the age of 14 she heard Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan and was hooked, and the cross pollination of music styles is still evident in her music.
Rebecca founded the band Rebecca’s Empire, and has sung with artists including Stephen Cummings, Paul Kelly, Tim Rogers, Renee Geyer, Deborah Conway and You Am I.
Rebecca will perform at the library on Friday 24th June from 6pm.
To book, call the library on 9650 3100 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. It’s free for members and $10 for guests. Refreshments will be provided.
Vikki Petraitis (pictured) has been announced as the winner of the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize, but we will have to wait until August for her prizewinning manuscript to be published.
The prize was open to all unpublished full-length manuscripts in the crime or thriller genres between 70,000 and 100,000 words in length, written by residents of Australia and New Zealand. Both debut writers and already-published writers could enter.
Allen & Unwin publisher Jane Palfreyman said: “Vikki Petraitis has taken a lifetime of observing police work and true crime and brought this experience to writing fiction for the first time, and the result is this fantastic novel: tightly paced, plausible, a fabulous read and, above all, completely gripping.”
Her novel, The Unbelieved, will be added to the library’s collection when available.
Vikki Petraitis has been writing true crime books for the past three decades, including The Frankston Serial Killer, which is on the library’s shelves.
The Melbourne Athenaeum is delighted to announce Declan Furber Gillick as the library's 2022 playwright-in-residence. Born in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Declan is an independent, multi-disciplinary artist, writer and performer whose practice and artistic interests span writing, theatre, poetry, music, rap, film and visual art.
Since completing the Victorian College of the Arts' Masters of Writing for Performance in 2017, Declan has seen his plays performed at festivals including the Melbourne Fringe, won Green Room Awards, and enjoyed a residency as part of the Melbourne Theatre Company's Next Stage Program.
Declan will spend time working in the library throughout the year.
