General News
7 January, 2026
Horsham Arts Council claims esteemed Guild honour
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Last 10 Years, a production by the Horsham Arts Council, was recognised by the Music Theatre Guild of Victoria.
Council members attended the awards ceremony in Melbourne on Saturday and were delighted to claim the honours for Open Section - Concert/Revue for their May production.
The Last 10 Years celebrated a decade of Arts Council performances.
It highlighted the creative passion of local talent that drives every show.
Incredibly, the Horsham Arts Council was up against all the amateur musical theatre productions across the state, including those in Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong.
Chris Versteegen, executive producer of the production, said there are about 50 amateur musical theatre productions across Victoria, but the Horsham Arts Council were nominated for awards in different sections.
"We were nominated for our production of Godspell, but our production of The Last 10 Years was nominated for the Concert/Revue section because it was a structure where we took snippets of the last 16 productions that the Arts Council had done," Mr Versteegen explained.
"And we were lucky enough to come home with the gong."
The Horsham Arts Council have been recognised by the Guild for every one of their performances over the last 15 years.
"Every one of our productions has received some sort of recognition," a proud Mr Versteegen said.
"So that's either with regards to a nomination or a commendation, so we are really proud of being recognised by the Guild, but winning them is rare.
"We got an award for excellence, which is outside the categories, whereby the Guild just recognises us for general excellence, and that was in 2022, but our last win was back in 2018."
Admitting the award wasn't the reason the group did shows, Mr Versteegen said the achievement this year was massive, particularly against the bigger budgeted groups.
"We put on shows so the community can come and see great musical theatre and enjoy a night out with their families, but it is nice recognition," he said.
"It's not only the budgets that these companies have, but it's also their access to personnel and costumes, access being closer to those centres which are major."
Mr Versteegen put the win down to the "amazing committee and volunteers, along with the group's talent.
"Our committee is really supportive of the direction we go in," he admitted.
"Something like The Last 10 Years was actually a committee initiative.
"It's also thanks to the amazing talent that is willing to come into Horsham, because we spread our wings out to Stawell and Warracknabeal, and people are willing to come in and perform with the Horsham Arts Council because of the record we have."
But where to next?
Mr Versteegen said it's a good question.
"We really want to explore the technical space," he said.
"Things like digital projection, or things technical when it comes to effects or sound.
"Because we know that Horsham has a great talent base for acting, dancing and singing, so it's stretching the bar in terms of what sort of performances we can aim to put on."
The next production by the Horsham Arts Council will be The Wizard of Oz, featuring a cast of more than 20 children and teens.
The production will be on stage from April next year.