Melbourne Recital Centre is unlocking a once-hidden room at the top of its Southbank home, and it's called The Beacon.
The Peter and Ruth McMullin Beacon crowns the uppermost level of the building, turning a former storage space into an intimate venue with floor-to-ceiling views across the city and the shifting Arts Precinct below. A room once known only to those in the know now opens up for live music, food and wine, and both public and private events, from musical matinees to late-night sets.
The Beacon’s inaugural program starts on 17 September and settles into a regular weekly rhythm through to November, moving between cabaret, jazz, musical theatre, contemporary music and First Nations-led performances. International cabaret star Meow Meow gets the room going first with a three-night run of specially made shows called Meow Meow and Friend.
The Peter and Ruth McMullin Beacon
- The Peter and Ruth McMullin Beacon, Melbourne Recital Centre
- Opens to the public 17 September
- Tickets on sale 11am, 28 August
- Meow Meow and Friend – 17-19 September
- Neylon & Peele – 21 September
- tragic. a song cycle by Indy Angel – 28 September
- Michelle Nicolle & Hugh Stuckey – 2 October
- Tamara Murphy & Stephen Magnusson – 9 October
- Katie Yap – 12 October
- Sean Riley x Royal Drue (Unplugged) – 19 October
- A Night with… Paul Grabowsky & Ross Wilson – 24 October
- A Night with Dr Trevor Jones – 2 November
- Jess Hitchcock – 5 November
- Fem Belling & Monique DiMattina – 6 November
- Kee’ahn – 12 November
- Andrea Keller & Stephen Magnusson – 13 November
- Holly Hebe – 19 November
- Michelle Nicolle & David McEvoy – 27 November
- Zoë Black, Caroline Henbest and Molly Kadarauch – 30 November
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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The whole thing is a $2 million project, built on a $1 million investment from the Victorian government and matched by a $1 million philanthropic gift from Ruth and Peter McMullin AM. ARM Architecture, the practice behind the original building more than two decades ago, returned to reshape the top floor into a performance and events space that keeps its strong line of sight to the city and handles everything from solo piano and acoustic sets to amplified contemporary music.
Inside, a reflective ceiling installation catches movement and light across the room, while a large-scale spectrogram artwork wraps the interior. That piece translates an original composition called Look Above, by First Nations artists Aunty Joy Murphy-Wandin AO and Dr Lou Bennett AM, into a visual work that runs around the space.
The opening months lean on the depth of Melbourne’s music scene, with a lineup running from emerging singer-songwriter and producer Holly Hebe to Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal and Torres Strait Islander artist Kee’ahn, plus jazz names including Michelle Nicolle, Paul Grabowsky, Ross Wilson, Tamara Murphy, Stephen Magnusson and Andrea Keller. Further programs land as part of Melbourne Recital Centre’s 2027 season launch in late October.
For more information, head here.
