Earlier this year, WAAPA announced the inaugural Premier Visiting Artists Program – an initiative supported by the Minderoo Foundation that sees the brand-new ECU city campus host some of the world’s leading creative professionals in their fields for performances, masterclasses and opportunities to work closely with the students.
Currently, award-winning video, lighting and projection designer Jon Driscoll is in residence at WAAPA, working with Production and Design students on video storytelling, projection mapping, lighting integration and large-scale production design, all aided by the technologies available at City Campus.
Otherwise, Visiting Artists have been featured in WAAPA’s annual programs for years, performing for sell-out crowds and oftentimes alongside student ensembles. Kicking off Season 3’s Visiting Artist performance calendar on Friday, July 31, is KUČKA, a WAAPA-alum, singer-songwriter and producer who has worked alongside the likes of Flume, A$AP Rocky, Vince Staples, SOPHIE and Kendrick Lamar. Her performance, set to utilise the cutting-edge technology of new performance space The Derksen Studio, has sold out.
The Derksen Studio is a multi-purpose space, designed to support interdisciplinary exploration over performance, composition, sonic arts and emerging technologies. The studio is adaptable, with high-spec projectors, a sophisticated spatial audio mapping system, and blonde timber panelling for warm acoustics meaning the space can be used for anything from a rehearsal room to an experimental audio-visual environment.
Purpose-built for innovation, it only makes sense for an artist of KUČKA’s caliber to return to her alma mater and make the space her own for the exclusive performance.
The Derksen Studio is also significant as an asset to WAAPA through its namesake – Lesley Joy Derksen.
Derksen was a passionate educator and lifelong supporter of the performing arts, and was especially committed to supporting WAAPA and backstage practitioners, whom she called the “unsung heroes,” of every production.
After her passing in 2024, the Herman and Lesley Derksen Backstage Scholarship was established, reflecting her commitment to arts education. The scholarships, valued at $10,000 each, support full-time WAAPA students within the Bachelor of Performing Arts (Production and Design) course.
Those who knew Lesley spoke of her constant curiosity, and her wish to understand every part of the creative process, from lighting design to costume making. Her deep connection to teaching, theatre and student development is now attached to one of ECU City’s flagship venues, and perhaps the venue that most encourages and supports cross-disciplinary excellence and progress.
Her bequest not only funds scholarships, but prizes and fellowships across sound production, Aboriginal performance and children’s literature, continuing to support WAAPA students for generations to come.
The Derksen Studio isn’t the only city campus venue with a story behind it – a venue that debuted early this year was the McCusker Recital Hall, honouring the McCusker Charitable Foundation and family who have supported WAAPA for two decades. It can accommodate both a full orchestra of 70 performers and almost 400 audience members – but the highlight is the Fazioli piano at its centre, gifted to WAAPA by the family in 2014.
Premier Visiting Artist and world-renowned pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk made his residency performance debut on a new Steinway grand piano in the McCusker Recital Hall in March, with Visiting Artist and ARIA award-winning guitarist Karin Schaupp set to perform here in August.
The Paula Huston Auditorium offers a different experience as a venue designed for small-scale music performances, like unamplified vocals and ensemble performances. Acoustically superior with timber cladding and high ceilings, the venue can move between rehearsal space and public performance instantly.
Like The Derksen Studio, the Paula Huston Auditorium’s name comes from a bequest that will provide support to WAAPA students for years. Paula Jeane Huston, who passed in November 2025, committed her entire estate along with a living gift to fund international opportunities for emerging artists.
Huston grew up in Mount Lawley and would walk from her home to attend WAAPA’s performances as a child. That early connection stayed with her, and she devoted much of her life to the arts, and especially enjoyed watching students develop and supporting emerging talent.
In bequeathing her estate following a separate pledge made during her lifetime to provide $100,000 annually to support student scholarships, Huston ensured that future generations of performers could pursue their careers with fewer barriers. Those who worked with her knew that her focus was to give young performers a chance to step onto the global stage.
The Paula Huston Auditorium opened with the city campus at the beginning of the year, and is set to host events like the massive ensemble performance of the Jazz and Contemporary Music Students By Epic Arrangement!
Several performance spaces at the Minderoo Centre for Performance Excellence remain unnamed and open for recognition, like the Playhouse Theatre, hosting its inaugural performances this season with The Fairy Queen, and other purpose-built venues like the SoundHouse, Dance Theatre, Flex Theatre and Aboriginal Performance Studio.
The venues will host the next generation of artists, their names offering a lasting legacy and presence in every step onto the stage for the donors, with the general public also invited to share the spaces with each performance.
WAAPA’s Season 3 performance program kicks off on Thursday, July 30. Tickets are on sale now.