I can’t think of a better ways to open a festival weekend than with Philip Glass’s music, a grand piano and the extraordinary setting of Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building. Now or Never is all about transforming familiar places into something slightly otherworldly, and this felt like a particularly elegant example of that idea.
The grandeur of the building provided the perfect counterpoint to the intimacy of Glass’s music. Under beautiful, carefully considered lighting, the space seemed to shift around the performance, simultaneously enormous and strangely close. Then there was the piano itself: mesmerising, repetitive, precise and hypnotic, with Glass’s compositions gradually filling the vast room without ever feeling overwhelmed by it.
There is something quite magical about watching a performer at a piano in a space of this scale. The architecture gives you the epic, while the music gives you the intimate. Together, they create an experience that feels much bigger than either one alone.
And perhaps that is the sweet spot for Now or Never. The festival promises art, ideas, sound and technology across some of Melbourne’s most iconic spaces, encouraging audiences to experience the city differently. Here, the ingredients were wonderfully simple: a legendary composer, a piano, extraordinary architecture and lighting. Yet the result felt expansive.
It was also, rather fittingly, sold out. That feels like more than a ticketing footnote. It suggests the organisers have found their people: an audience willing to spend a Friday night sitting quietly, listening deeply and letting a building, a piece of music and a little bit of light do the heavy lifting.
What a way to start the festival weekend. 🎹✨
Now or Never runs until 30 August 2026
Full program and tickets can be found here
