'Jandamarra assembles storytellers, Indigenous singers and dancers, the acclaimed Gondwana choirs, young singers from all over Sydney… and a symphony orchestra!
'Jandamarra - warrior and leader - lived at a time when white pastoralists were laying claim to Bunuba country in the Kimberley, a time of violence and upheaval. He was only in his mid-20s when he was gunned down, but in his short life he created a legacy that has never been forgotten.
'In collaboration with the Bunuba people, who own the story, we'll transform the Concert Hall to play out the drama of this tragic hero poised between two worlds. Sing for the Country (Ngalanybarra Muwayi).
Violence and upheaval also form the background for Vaughan Williams' Oboe Concerto. The music has a wistful pastoral character - everything you'd expect of the composer of The Lark Ascending - but it was born under the roar of German air raids.'
