Aboriginal hero lauded in concerts
A Fitzroy Crossing choir will join 500 singers and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of a major new choral work about Kimberley Aboriginal hero Jandamarra.
The concerts at the Sydney Opera House next July continue a campaign by the Bunuba people of Fitzroy Crossing to raise awareness of Jandamarra, the "black Ned Kelly" who led a resistance against European settlement in the 1890s.
Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, Ngalanyba Muwayi is composed by Australian Paul Stanhope with a libretto by Steve Hawke based on his 2008 play about the warrior-leader.
Co-producer and Bunuba elder June Oscar said Jandamarra's power of song to summon traditional spirits to heal the land had been a major theme of the play.
"This made the notion of a choral work drawing from the story and the play seem especially appropriate and exciting to the Bunuba community," she said.
The performances will feature the Yilimbirri Ensemble from Fitzroy Crossing and 500 singers from the National Indigenous Choir, the Gondwana Voices, the Gondwana Chorale, the Sydney Schools Choir and Sydney Children's Choir.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra managing director Rory Jeffes said it was a groundbreaking collaboration of major cultural importance.
"This is a clear example of the considerable role music can play in the joining of cultures in Australia," Mr Jeffes said.
A major sponsor is Kimberley Diamond Company, whose Ellendale yellow-diamond mine is on Bunuba traditional land in Fitzroy Valley.
The orchestra and Bunuba Cultural Enterprises are working on a curriculum resource kit for schools.
