Top Class
About Top Class
Top Class presents concerts by outstanding performing arts students who have completed VCE Dance, Drama, Theatre Studies, Music Composition, Music Contemporary Performance, Music Inquiry and Music Repertoire Performance, and VCE VET Dance, Music (Performance) and Music (Sound Production).
Top Class 2026 will take place throughout March 2026 at the Melbourne Recital Centre, with a Regional Tour in April and May 2026 to Gippsland Performing Arts Centre, Ulumbarra Theatre and Geelong Arts Centre.
Top Class Regional
The 2026 VCE Season of Excellence will bring Top Class concerts to regional Victoria, on Thursday 23 April in Traralgon at the Gippsland Performing Arts Centre (GPAC), Thursday 7 May 2026 in Bendigo at The Ulumbarra Theatre and expanding to Geelong Arts Centre on Tuesday 12 May 2026.
The concerts will feature a condensed program of performers from the Season’s metropolitan Top Class Dance, Drama, Theatre Studies, Music and Sound concerts, and be emceed by a VCE curriculum expert.
Accompanying each concert is a free Q&A session with a selection of concert performers and a curriculum expert. This is an opportunity for students and teachers to ask all about performers’ creative processes and their experience preparing for and undertaking their 2025 VCE examinations.
2026 Top Class Concert dates
Tickets for all concerts are on sale. Please see the tabs below for venue, ticketing, and program information.
Top Class Dance
Monday 2 March 10:00 am and 2:00 pm
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE
31 Sturt Street, Southbank
Bookings
Visit the Melbourne Recital Centre website.
Program: VCE VET Dance styles, VCE Dance Skills-based and Cohesive Composition Solos, written VCE VET Industry Statement and VCE Cohesive Composition Statement of Intention examples.
Performer lists available from early 2026.
Top Class Drama
Tuesday 24 March 10:00 am
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE
31 Sturt Street, Southbank
Bookings
Visit the Melbourne Recital Centre website.
Program: VCE Drama solo performances and Q&A
Performer lists available from early 2026.
Top Class Theatre Studies
Wednesday 25 March, 10:00 am
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE
31 Sturt Street, Southbank
Bookings
Visit the Melbourne Recital Centre website.
Program: VCE Theatre Studies monologues (actor/director and designer) and Q&A
Performer lists available from early 2026.
Top Class Music and Sound
Music
Monday 30 March, 10:00 am - Solo and group classical (acoustic)
Monday 30 March, 2:30 pm - Solo and group classical and contemporary (acoustic)
Music and Sound
Tuesday 31 March, 10:00 am and 2:30 pm - Solo and group contemporary, including original compositions (amplified)
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE
31 Sturt Street, Southbank
Bookings
Visit the Melbourne Recital Centre website.
Please note: All Music and Sound concerts will feature a mixture of studies to be confirmed when performers are finalised in early 2026. The studies listed below are an indication only to help teachers select the concert most relevant to their class.
Top Class Regional: Traralgon 2026
Thursday 23 April, 10:30am
GIPPSLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE
32 Kay Street, Traralgon
Bookings
Visit the Gippsland Performing Arts Centre website.
Program: Performances of VCE Music, Dance, Drama and Theatre Studies and Q&A
Performer lists available from early 2026.
Top Class Regional: Bendigo 2026
Thursday 7 May
10.30am Performances of VCE Music, Dance, Drama and Theatre Studies and Q&A
ULUMBARRA THEATRE
10 Gaol Road, Bendigo
Bookings
Visit the The Ulumbarra Theatre website.
Program: Performances of VCE Music, Dance, Drama and Theatre Studies and Q&A
Performer lists available from early 2026.
Top Class Regional: Geelong 2026
Tuesday 12 May, 10:30 am
GEELONG ARTS CENTRE
50 Little Malop Street, Geelong
Bookings
Visit the Geelong Arts Centre website.
Program: Performances of VCE Music, Dance, Drama and Theatre Studies and Q&A
Performer lists available from early 2026.
Email seasonofexcellence@education.vic.gov.au
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Selection process
Top Class performers are selected from students that have achieved an A or an A+ on their VCE performance examination or Externally-assessed Task.
During the selection process, students are identified only by their VCAA student number to remove bias in the selection process. Every effort is made to equally represent school sectors during the selection process and within the Top Class concerts.
Top Class Dance, Drama and Theatre Studies
VCE Drama, Theatre Studies, Dance and VCE VET Dance students are invited to audition for Top Class based on their performance examination score. Invitations to audition will be sent in mid-December 2025. Auditions will be held in January 2026.
Top Class Music
VCE Music Repertoire Performance, Music Contemporary Performance, and Music Inquiry, and VCE VET Music (Performance), and Music (Sound Production) students are selected from recordings of their end of year performance examination. Students will be notified of their selection in January 2026.
Top Class Sound
VCE Music Composition and VCE Music Inquiry students are selected from original compositions that received an A or A+ on the Externally-assessed Task. VCE Music Contemporary Performance, VCE Music Repertoire Performance, and VCE VET Music (Performance) and Music (Sound Production) students who created or performed an original composition for a graded assessment task in 2025 may submit an application for selection.
A selection panel will review and shortlist all eligible exam recordings and applications. The VCAA will contact shortlisted students to confirm a high-quality recording or live performance of an appropriate standard can be organised for Top Class Music and Sound in March 2026. All applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application by late-December 2025.
Top Class Sound Selection Criteria
Applicants must be enrolled in Units 3 and 4 of any of the following studies:
- VCE Music Composition
- VCE Music Inquiry
- VCE Music Contemporary Performance
- VCE Music Repertoire Performance
- VCE VET Music (Performance)
- VCE VET Music (Sound Production)
Selected works must:
- be an original composition created or performed for a graded assessment task in 2025
- be able to be presented in concert at an appropriate standard, either as a live performance or high-quality recording
- include copyright clearance if they include third-party content
Optional:
- prerecorded material and/or sound effects may be used with live performance
Education resources
Select Top Class concert recordings from 2021-2023 are available as free resources for schools. Please note, recordings are not available for 2024 Top Class concerts. To access available videos, please email seasonofexcellence@education.vic.gov.au and specify which resources you would like from the below:
Top Class Dance
- Top Class Dance 2021 - Program 1 & 2 (VCE Dance and VCE VET Dance)
- Top Class Dance 2022 - Program 1 & 2 (VCE Dance and VCE VET Dance)
Top Class Drama and Theatre Studies
- Top Class Drama 2021 (Program 1 & 2) and 2023 (Program 1, 2 & 3) (VCE Drama)
- Top Class Theatre Studies 2021 (Program 1 & 2) and 2023 (Program 1, 2 & 3) (VCE Theatre Studies)
Top Class Music and Top Class Sound
- Top Class Music 2021 - Program 1 (VCE Music Performance, VCE Music Investigation, VCE VET Music Industry (Performance) – solo and group acoustic)
- Top Class Music 2021 - Program 2 (VCE Music Performance, VCE Music Investigation, VCE VET Music Industry (Performance) – solo and group acoustic and plugged)
- Top Class Music 2021 - Program 3 (VCE Music Performance, VCE Music Investigation, VCE VET Music Industry (Performance) – solo and group plugged)
- Top Class Sound 2021 - Program 1 (VCE Music Style and Composition, VCE Music Investigation)
- Top Class Music 2022 - Program 1 (VCE Music Performance and VCE Music Investigation - solo acoustic)
- Top Class Music 2022 - Program 2 (VCE Music Performance, VCE Music Investigation and VCE VET Music Industry (Performance) - solo and group acoustic)
- Top Class Sound and Music 2022 - Program 3 (VCE Music Style and Composition, VCE Music Investigation and VCE VET Music Industry (Performance) original compositions, followed by VCE Music Performance, VCE Music Investigation and VCE VET Music Industry (Performance) solo and group performances)