University of Southern Queensland‘s (USQ) Artsworx presents 2018’s Cabaret music project Moon of Baker Street which will feature USQ’s Bachelor of Creative Arts music students performing a night of songs inspired by the moon, held at the USQ Arts Theatre from Thursday 18 to Friday 19 October.

In addition to tunes from a range of artists, USQ Music Lecturer Helen Russell says the evening will also feature a few originals from students. “There are some metaphors that songwriters just keep coming back to and the moon is one of the evergreens,” said Helen. “When I was a child growing up in the 70s in Toowoomba, my mother Peg put together a show for the Junior Choral Society which gathered together songs about the moon. Forty-plus years later, I have taken the same idea for our second year student cabaret-style show.”

Audience members will be able to enjoy songs from musical luminaries such as Paul Simon, David Bowie, and The Rolling Stones. Music student singer/songwriter Gene Clarke is set to debut his very own song at this years cabaret. “The Frontier Past the Moon is a song about how the moon was the first step in what’s hopefully a series of solar and lunar exploration,” he said.

The cabaret project is the culmination of a semester of collaborative music practice for USQ’s second year music students. It provides an opportunity for them to experience the process of creating a show from scratch, something they will no doubt be required to do throughout their careers.

Readers also enjoyed our story on the Toowoomba Anglican College and Preparatory School’s musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.