3 minute read
Celebrating First Nations
Musical Acknowledgement of Country
After commencing this project in 2019, 2020 saw the MSO begin performing a Musical Acknowledgment of Country, Long Time Living Here, at the start of each MSO performance. This work is part of a larger collaborative project between the MSO, Deborah, Short Black Opera, and language custodians and their communities, to create Musical Acknowledgement of Country for each of the 11 official indigenous language groups of Victoria. The Musical Acknowledgement enables the MSO to pay tribute to the Traditional Owners of the land on which it performs, in the language specific to that nation, and in the MSO’s language of music. The Melbourne premiere in the Boon Wurrung language took place at the MSO’s Sidney Myer Free Concert, Around the World with the MSO, with Deborah singing the Acknowledgement herself. During the MSO Kids Marathon in June, awardwinning opera singer and composer Jessica Hitchcock delivered a ‘how to’ session on singing the Boon Wurrung version, taking young viewers through each of the words and their meaning, to music. This project was made possible with support from the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and from the Commonwealth Government through the Australian National Commission for UNESCO. The MSO is grateful to all Indigenous contributors, including language custodians, for their guidance and knowledge and pays its respect to Traditional Owners and to elders, past present and emerging.
Dutala – Star Filled Sky
As part of her role as the MSO’s 2020 Composer in Residence, and in celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday year, the MSO commissioned Deborah Cheetham AO to write a companion piece for Beethoven’s Symphony No.9. Written for symphony orchestra and chorus, Cheetham drew on the soaring emotions and spirit of Beethoven’s work with Dutala – Star Filled Sky, to complement the classic in an original and innovative style. Dutala – Star Filled Sky had its world premiere at the MSO’s Season Opening Gala: Beethoven 9, Circa and Cheetham, where it was described as being rich and evocative.
– The Age, 23 February 2020
“Cheetham lights up the Australian night sky…”
– Limelight, 24 February 2020
Always Was, Always Will Be: MSO celebrates NAIDOC Week
The MSO honoured NAIDOC Week 2020 with a virtual evening of performance and conversation, celebrating First Nations artists, composers, musicians, and performers. Host Benjamin Northey spoke with Noongar conductor and violist Aaron Wyatt, Yorta Yorta, musician, composer, Allara Briggs-Pattison, and Yorta Yorta soprano, composer, and educator Deborah Cheetham AO. The event commenced with a performance of Cheetham’s Musical Acknowledgement of Country, Long Time Living Here and continued with an intriguing and often personal discussion about First Nations arts and artists, and their intersections with classical music and the symphonic art form. Aaron performed an excerpt from Cheetham’s new work, Nanyubak, which will have its world premiere in 2021 and the night concluded with a performance of Cheetham’s Gulaga by Prudence Davis (Principal flute), David Thomas (Principal clarinet), and Jeff Crellin (Principal oboe). Throughout NAIDOC Week, the MSO also presented an episode of Up Late with Ben Northey, featuring Jessica Hitchcock, a stream of Dutala – Star Filled Sky, and a stream of the MSO’s 2020 world premiere of Cheetham’s Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace, sung entirely in the ancient dialects of the Gunditjmara people. The MSO’s NAIDOC Week activity was supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and by Crown Resorts Foundation and Packer Family Foundation.
