MINERS’ MEMORY HONOURED IN MUSIC

The Mount Morgan miners who died in Mine accidents in the early 1900’s will be remembered in music when local musician Suzie Camm writes the music for “Linda Memorial, Mount Morgan’ a project which she received funding from the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). RADF is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Rockhampton Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. The instrumental piece is being written for two violins, a viola and a cello and will be performed hopefully at the Linda Memorial site in the Mount Morgan Cemetery. Suzie has lived in Mount Morgan for nine years, where she completed my PhD in music following her Masters at Melbourne University.

“This project follows on from works I composed during the Doctorate which were based on music for grief and how we respond to grief with music,” she said.

“I had two field trips, one to the 15th anniversary of 9/11 (which I composed a symphony in response), and Belarus and the Ukraine, including a visit to Chernobyl to compose a work for strings in dedication to the liquidators who gave their life in the clean up.”

“Mount Morgan is a welcoming town, so having the opportunity to commemorate something that makes the town what it is, like the mine, is a privilege. It’s all too easy to forget these dark days of the mine, except perhaps for relatives still living.

“I would like to reach out to anyone who has a connection with these miners that were lost to tell their story by contacting me, in turn this will assist in the writing process of the string quartet and make it authentic as it will be based on the memory of those with a connection to the mine itself,” she said.

The serenity of the town has given me much inspiration as a composer, so it’s great to give backusing my craft,” she said.