The Leaps and Bounds Music Festival has been extended, with a string of incredible new shows added thanks to a funding boost from the State Government’s On the Road Again fund.

The festival will be expanded to run for a whole month (from 24 June – 24 July) under the banner Leaps and Bounds + BEYOND, bringing even more live music and special events to local venues and other unique settings across the City of Yarra.

The + BEYOND program is dedicated to instrumental artists working in experimental, contemporary and classical repertoire and will showcase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, African and LGBTIQ+ musicians.

As the centrepiece of the extended program, renowned opera singer Deborah Cheetham AO will bring her epic performance piece, The Rivers Sing: Reprise to the banks of the Birrarung (Yarra River).

Over ten nights, Ms Cheetham together with artists Thomas Supple and Byron Scullin, will create an immersive sonic experience in response to the river itself, with no 2 night’s performances the same.

This ground-breaking work will give audiences a unique opportunity to engage in contemporary Aboriginal culture and its vital connection to Country.

Other highlights from + BEYOND include:

Ensemble Dutala residency and chamber performance – Ensemble Dutala is Australia’s first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chamber ensemble. Led by conductor and violist Aaron Wyatt (Noongar), Ensemble Dutala will take up a 2-month residency at Fitzroy Town Hall, culminating in a special live performance.

Homophonic! – Led by Artistic Director and producer Miranda Hill, Homophonic! is a celebration of queer artistry, presenting new classical music by queer composers. This classical chamber music concert with a cult following will feature Homosexual Harmonies, Sapphic Symphonists, a double belled bass trombone, and a harpsichord.

Liquid Architecture: Ritual Community Music – Staged across three Sundays in July 2022, platforming a diverse group of local and international experimental musicians. The series will explore how radical music can help us manifest new possibilities for thinking and imagine new ways of organising community through ritual behaviours, actions and languages. Full line-up to be released.

Rhythm and Line – Tokyo-based, award-winning projection artists Flightgraf will re-create this Liszt inspired work for the Richmond Town Hall façade as part of multi-site interventions based around the keyboard. Expect virtuosic renditions of Liszt as well as random piano playing across the city over 10 days.

Blackout Experience - Championing new music and art from Black, Indigenous and creatives of colour, Yo CiTY presents this tribute to MCs featuring Dom (So.Crates), Arnt Mae and Tumi + Band at the Abbotsford Convent.

Afrosphere - We’re teaming up with Melbourne International Jazz Festival for a night of Afro jazz and beats at the Abbotsford Convent. Get ready for an unmissable night of body-moving music.

For the full Leaps and Bounds + Beyond line up, visit Leaps and Bounds Music Festival website.