WOVEN SONG
Celebrate Seymour Centre’s 50th anniversary and enjoy an evening of beautiful chamber music with the acclaimed Woven Song compositions of Yorta Yorta soprano, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, accompanied by members of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music faculty, Opera Australia Orchestra, Friends of Ensemble Dutala and special guest artists Mindy Meng Wang (Guzheng) and Anne Norman (Shakuhachi).
A remarkable international collaboration of interconnected artforms and featuring new work commissioned for the anniversary, Woven Song is performed against projections of the magnificent Embassy Tapestries, currently on loan to embassies from Singapore to Paris, Tokyo to Dublin.
The tapestries that inspired the music were in turn inspired by artworks by celebrated First Nations artists, from Brooke Andrew to Patrick Mung Mung, Pedro Wanaeamirri to Elizabeth Marks Nakamarra – and each artwork, in turn, inspired by ancient indigenous stories.
Layer upon layer – stories, artworks, tapestries, music – Cheetham Fraillon gives voice to the material works, engaging in the telling of First Nations stories through a unique collaboration across cultures and art forms. She adds further depth by performing with musicians local to countries in which the tapestries are located, building international creative communities through music.
Gloriously presented in the Seymour Centre's York Theatre, this is a fitting way to commemorate the anniversary of Sydney's iconic performing arts centre, and to honour the land on which Seymour sits, which has always been a place of story, art and song.
Special Pre-Show Event
Join us for a special pre-show event in the York foyer from 7pm with a celebratory drink, a Welcome to Country, and an event welcome by Kirsten Andrews, Vice-Principal (External Engagement), University of Sydney.
Feedback/Comments
It was great to finally see and hear Deborah Cheetham live. She certainly has stage presence and she has successfully taught her students - the other soloists - how to master this. As for her musical compositions, while they are inspired by amazing Indigenous art - well worth seeing - her music is all cut from the same cloth. It's melodic but lacks any rhythmical differentiation and it felt repetitive after 2 or 3 songs. Same with Ms Cheetham's gowns. She did a 'costume change' for each song and by the end, the concert felt like a rolling advertisement for her frock designer and it detracted from the fine work of the other soloists and musicians. A pity.
The Indigenous artwork can be seen here: https://shortblackopera.org.au/tapestry-project
Magically but the unnecessary dress changes cause a 70 minute show blow out to 120 minutes which is far too long without an interval