Melbourne Recital Centre's November programming is as varied and exquisite as the venue's tessellated ceilings
There are many things I take for granted as a resident of Melbourne/Naarm. Batch brew in every cafe is one of them. No spiders lurking in my bath towel is another. But I hope to never lose enthusiasm for the sheer number of world-class music venues that are making interesting and unusual programming decisions all year round.
Melbourne Recital Centre is home to two performance spaces: the stately Elisabeth Murdoch Hall and the intimate Primrose Potter Salon. During November, they’ll host Brazilian guitar virtuosity, legends of Zamrock, cross-cultural jazz, and much more. See all the highlights of their November programming below.
Check out our gig guide here.
Sarava: Panorama Brasil with Doug de Vries
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- Primrose Potter Salon
- Friday 14 November
- Tickets
Jazz guitarist Doug de Vries will link up with local ensemble Panorama Brasil for a celebration of Brazilian guitarist and composer Baden Powell. Powell, who was active from the 1960s through to his death in 2000, was noted for his virtuosic guitar abilities and innovations in samba, bossa nova and Brazilian jazz.
The Naarm-based de Vries has always had an affinity with Brazilian music and has even worked with several of the country’s music greats, including Yamandú Costa, Hermeto Pascoal and Maurício Carrilho. Panorama Brasil are already well acquainted with Powell’s repertoire, with their performances regularly incorporating bossa nova and Brazilian jazz standards.
WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc)
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- Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
- Friday 14 November
- Tickets
The word “legend” is thrown around flippantly in music discourse. But Zambian band WITCH (aka We Intend to Cause Havoc) truly deserve the title. Led by Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda, WITCH are pioneers of Zamrock, an incredibly fruitful movement of native Zambian rock music that took off in the 1970s. Many lineup changes and musical modulations later, WITCH have released two albums in the last three years, including the recent Sogolo, which as just as heavy, psychedelic and soulful as anything in their back catalogue.
Paul Grabowsky and Mindy Meng Wang – Between Dreams
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- Primrose Potter Salon
- Saturday 15 November
- Tickets
Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 is one of the most fascinating composers and instrumentalists working in Australia. In the last few years, the Chinese-born-and-trained guzheng player has made records with electronic producer Tim Shiel, experimental pop artist Sui Zhen and film composer David Hirschfelder. Meng Wang’s latest project is Between Dreams, a collaboration with jazz pianist and former Australian Art Orchestra director Paul Grabowsky. The album – which they’re launching at Recital Centre – combines traditional Chinese music with contemporary jazz piano.
Sonorous XII: Rohan Rebeiro & Prudence Rees-Lee
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- Primrose Potter Salon
- Thursday 20 November
- Tickets
As a general principle, anything endorsed by MESS (the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio) is worth checking out. The organisation – which is led by audio-visual artist Robin Fox – is committed to giving artists the tools to make unconventional and potentially mind-altering music. The Sonorous series is a case in point, and volume twelve features My Disco’s Rohan Rebeiro and Prudence Rees-Lee of Popular Music. The two established artists have been getting familiar with MESS’s world famous collection of wonderful and peculiar electronic instruments, which they’ll be utilising for a brand new multichannel electroacoustic performance.
MIRRA – Norwegian Tradition Reimagined
- Primrose Potter Salon
- Thursday 27 November
- Tickets
Norwegian musician and world-renowned hardanger fiddler Benedicte Maurseth will lead a Norwegian supergroup through a one-hour performance. So what is a hardanger fiddle? Well it’s only the bloody national instrument of Norway! It’s similar to a violin but has twice as many strings and a unique resonance. It’ll be under the spotlight during this show, which will centre on Maurseth’s new LP, MIRRA, an album influenced by the wild reindeer of Norway’s Hardangervidda plateau.
Reuben Kaye – enGORGEd
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- Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
- Friday 28 & Saturday 29 November
- Tickets
Reuben Kaye is not skimping on production value for his Melbourne Recital Centre debut. Kaye’s new show, enGORGEd, will be performed with the backing of an 18-piece orchestra. The show was originally commissioned by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, where it premiered in 2023. The festival organisers obviously liked what they saw as Kaye has been appointed Artistic Director of the 2026 event. In a five-star review of enGORGEd, Glam Adelaide said it’s “impossible to overstate the joy this production provides as an inclusive and empowering celebration of a performer who is at the top of their game.”
Streets of Bamako to the ports of Piraeus
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- Primrose Potter Salon
- Saturday 29 November
- Tickets
Worlds collide in complex harmony for a show that places West African blues side by side with Greek rebetiko. Malian multi-instrumentalist Aboubacar Djéliké Kouyate leads the Mande Blues Ensemble alongside kora player Amadou Suso, combining Malian and Gambian music with US American blues. They’ll be sparring with Estudiantina of Melbourne, an eight-strong ensemble steeped in the rhythms of Greek music, dance, and cross-generational exchange.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne Recital Centre.
