Patron: The Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC
June 2026 Newsletter
As always, there’s lots on at ArtSound beyond our on-air signal – let’s dive behind the scenes and find out about it!
A Vice-Regal Visit to ArtSound
Last year ArtSound proudly announced that Her Excellency the Hon Ms Sam Mostyn AC, Australian Governor-General had agreed to become ArtSound’s Patron. On 6th May we were honoured by an official visit, during which the Governor-General officially opened the new digital studio at ArtSound, as well as conducting an interview with our President Bart Meehan, and delivering a generous speech to invited guests before mingling with ArtSound volunteers. Our Patron recalled her formative years growing up in Canberra being a time where ArtSound was in her life due to her family’s links with the local jazz scene, and her genuine pleasure at being able to reconnect with a much-loved local institution in her current role.
1 HE the Hon Sam Mostyn AC officially opens our new digital Studio 1
2 Sam Mostyn with ArtSound President Bart Meehan
3 Governor-General speaks at the official opening.
4 Sam Mostyn with some of ArtSound’s volunteers
Radiothon 2026
Our 2026 Radiothon is now underway! Running for the entirety of June, ArtSound presenters are putting the case to our listeners that their support is vital in ensuring the future of the station. We derive funding through memberships, sponsorship arrangements, grants and other fundraising ventures (like our famous music quiz nights), but without our annual Radiothon we would be up against it in terms of paying those tedious but important bills covering electricity, insurance and the like. We are completely run by our volunteers – no paid staff! Unlike other key arts organisations in the ACT, we get no funding from ArtsACT to cover our expenses, so we are rather dependent on you, the listener and subscriber, to ensure our continued success!
As well as sustained coverage on air over the month of the Radiothon, we have instituted a schedule of social media reels on ArtSound’s Instagram and FaceBook accounts. (If you don’t follow us, we are @artsoundfm on both platforms.)
Please consider visiting our website artsound.fm to leave a donation during our Radiothon campaign. Just click on the red heart!
If no red heart appears, click on the hamburger (the three parallel lines).
There it is!
AGM 2026
Our Annual General Meeting took place on 26th May, when we introduced our incoming Board to attending members. Outgoing president Bart Meehan has now handed over the reins to Steve Little who now heads up our new Board. Full details of our Board can be found on ArtSound’s website.
Community Radio Powers the Australian Music Industry
You might have already suspected this, but a recent report from Monash University provides some proof that Australian community radio stations, which include ArtSound, contribute an estimated $153 million in annual added value to the local music industry sector. You can read more about this at the link below.
https://www.mediaweek.com.au/community-radio-153m-australian-music-industry/
Behind the Microphone – New Voices at ArtSound
Stuart Warner, Coordinator of the Senior Memories program advises that our new presenter on Senior Memories is Meri Tibbitts. Meri will take over the Thursday timeslot.
Meri is a newly retired librarian who came through a recent Introduction to Broadcasting training course held at ArtSound and who brings a broad knowledge of music from across the decades. While growing up in Wagga Wagga, Meri’s father was a well-known figure in Wagga radio. John Duncan was the host of the weekly easy listening Sunday Sounds on Radio 2WG. For nearly 20 years John presented four hours of music every Sunday and Meri has fond memories of hearing her dad on the radio, spending time in the studio and perusing the music library at home and at the station. Her favourite memory is that of waiting to hear ‘her song’ which was always the first song played after the 8pm news.
Meri’s love of music and radio began at a very early age and now as a presenter with the Senior Memories team, Meri is thrilled to fulfil a lifelong dream to follow in her father’s footsteps playing great music over the ArtSound airwaves.
And that’s not all – her experience in journalism and the theatre world has seen her contribute to ArtSound’s growing cohort of arts interviewers – you’ll hear her speaking to theatre types regularly on Arts Cafe!
250 ArtSound Radio Theatre programs!
ArtSound Radio Theatre recently aired its 250th show. Show host and producer Bart Meehan popped into Arts Cafe to chat with Neil Doody about the journey.
“Bill Stephens and I launched the show at the end of 2019, in the wake of COVID lockdowns with the aim of recreating the tradition of radio drama” Bart said.
“We wanted to give local actors and writers the opportunity to create new work for the Canberra community.”
Dozens of actors and writers have contributed over the past 6 years, some producing work that has gone on to be staged in theatrical festivals and win awards.
The 250th show features The Dear Departed, a loose adaptation for radio of an early 20th century play by Stanley Houghton. The adaptation was done in collaboration with Mill Theatre and staged as a “live” radio play over 6 sellout performances that ArtSound also recorded and filmed. (The filmed performance is available on the ArtSound FM YouTube channel)
You can relive the experience from the ArtSound website here.
Arts Café host Neil Doody interviews Bart Meehan in our new studio – note the sit/stand desk in action! (pic Steve Little)
Bart reports this project was a raging success – you can look forward to more collaborations of this nature in the future. ArtSound Radio Theatre runs each Sunday at 4pm with a replay on Monday evenings at 10pm.
AYO applications for 2027
A supporter and sponsor of ArtSound, the Australian Youth Orchestra, is seeking applications for its upcoming season. Be heard in 2027 with the Australian Youth Orchestra.
Applications open on June 1st for talented orchestral musicians and emerging arts leaders aged twelve to thirty. Take part in unforgettable concerts and make life-long friends on AYO’s renowned programs from National Music Camp to AYO Symphonists – performing across Australia and next year touring internationally to Singapore.
You can learn more at ayo.com.au.
The Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) is one of the world’s most prestigious and innovative training organisations for young musicians. It holds a vital and unique place in Australia’s musical landscape: bringing together exceptional artists, tutors and young musicians from every corner of the country and beyond.
For 75 years, the Australian Youth Orchestra has played an integral role in developing Australia’s finest musicians, thinkers and cultural leaders. Their specialised training pathways have been created to nurture the musical development of gifted young instrumentalists: from school-aged musicians to those on the verge of a professional career. Alongside renowned performance programs for talented young people under the age of 25, they offer complementary courses for aspiring composers, arts administrators, sound engineers and music journalists aged up to 30 years.
Canberra Southern Cross Club Sponsorship
ArtSound is back on the Canberra Southern Cross Club Community Rewards list, which allows ArtSound supporters to contribute to our coffers simply by dining at the club’s various facilities.
Under the program, as a patron of the club, you can go to this link: https://csccmarketing.wufoo.com/forms/m1ti98210e4gdsx/ and add your CSCC member details. Then, every time you buy food and drinks at the CSCC, ArtSound will get 7.5% of what you spend, and the money goes towards our equipment upgrades and running costs.
SUPPORT ARTSOUND IN ANY OF MANY WAYS
Opportunities to help out at ArtSound are many. Some of them are:
Welcoming Committee members
Communications team members
Advertising reps
Presenters
Program producers and assistants
Music library helpers
ArtSound FM’s mission is to cultivate a vibrant arts community in the ACT region. Your memberships and donations sustain our year-long programming including our artist-centred features and interviews and our many broadcasts of live recordings of concerts in and around Canberra.
THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF ARTSOUND!
Please go online to artsound.fm to take out membership or donate.
Or send your contact details and a description of how you think you can help to help@artsound.fm.
Or phone (02) 6295 7444 — if necessary, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you.
Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.
ArtSound is an all-volunteer community radio station.
Please forward this newsletter to any possibly interested friends and family members.
And if you have any suggestions about items to include in this bulletin, please send them to newsletter@artsound.fm at least three days before the end of the month.
