Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

"One day I hope to walk on that country and feel no restless spirit - just the strength of two thousand generations of lives lived and culture sustained."
– Deborah Cheetham AO

As a final chapter for our Festival, we are thrilled to present (in collaboration with Short Black Opera) the world première of a major new work from indigenous composer Deborah Cheetham. She writes: “The name Eumeralla is unlikely to be among the theatres of war that you could name. I first walked on this battlefield on Gunditjmara country in 2013 – it woke something in me and my immediate response was music. A song, A Requiem. A War Requiem. It will be called Eumeralla and named in honour of one of the most brutal resistance wars fought on this continent. Sung entirely in the language of the Gunditjmara people, it is designed for non-Indigenous Australians to sing along-side Indigenous brothers and sisters. It is my hope that this song will help the spirits of those who fell – those who resisted and their aggressors, to find a lasting peace and that we their descendants might find our way to deeper understanding of the legacy of these battles.

Program

Cheetham  Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace (World Première)

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by phone on (03) 5568 3030

Featured Australian Works

Featured artists

• Performer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon
• Performer Linda Barcan
• Performer Don Bemrose
• Performer Plexus Ensemble
• Performer Dhungala Children's Choir
• Performer The Consort of Melbourne