Jandamarra Sing for the Country, Sydney Town Hall 2019
“Everything about this performance had me glued to the edge of my seat - the epic tale, the performances, the libretto, the musicians, choirs and soloists. Of course, it received a well-deserved exuberant standing ovation!”
– Pepe Newton, classikON
Jandamarra Sing for the Country; Ngalanyba Muwayi.u
With such massive forces involved in the production, it was always going to be a challenge to stage the cantata again, but in partnership with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, we did manage a one-off remount at the Sydney Town Hall in 2019.
For me, the highlight of this particular show was seeing Patsy, June and Selina – my three much loved collaborators throughout the Jandamarra journey – on stage together for the first and only time, singing their grandmother’s song.
Margaret Mills, Selina Middleton, June Oscar and Patsy Bedford singing the Dirrari Lament, Sydney Town Hall, 2019
See the 2019 Sydney Town Hall performance
Fortunately, this time, the Conservatorium were able to make a broadcast quality recording of the performance.
Reviews
“Sydney Town Hall was absolutely packed to the rafters on Friday night and the excitement was palpable …
The orchestra was joined by hundreds of equally excellent young voices from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Choir and Chamber Choir, The Sydney Children’s Choir and Young Men’s Choir, and VOX, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ youth ensemble, all conducted by Elizabeth Scott. These in turn were joined by the Yilimbirri Ensemble, a group of Indigenous dancers, singers and musicians, plus numerous soloists and narrators all of whom contributed in their own way to a truly extraordinary piece of dramatic story telling for our time and place …
The 14 sections of the piece cover a vast array of soundscapes, from soloists to a full orchestral and choral sound and traditional music from the Kimberly. Jandamarra’s story is woven together with story of the junba, which tells of the journey of a creator serpent who has become displaced from his home ….
The action in this masterful work ranged all over the stage and into the orchestra, like a mini-opera. From the bullroarers calling us to attention at the opening to the final reflective song being passed from choir to choir, it explored a little known part of Australian history and culture in a respectful way, and, I thought, from equal perspectives of the Indigenous people and white settlers. Everything about this performance had me glued to the edge of my seat – the epic tale, the performances, the libretto, the musicians, choirs and soloists. Of course, it received a well-deserved exuberant standing ovation!”
Images from the production