29 October 2019

Winds of change as new Indigenous work premieres at Portrait Gallery

| Ian Bushnell
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Diana Doherty

Oboist Diana Doherty will lead the CSO Wind Quintet in Renewal at the National Portrait Gallery. Photo: CSO.

A new work by Indigenous soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham will premiere in Canberra on Thursday (31 October) as part of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s Australian Series concert Renewal at the National Portrait Gallery.

Cheetham will attend in person and take part in a pre-concert conversation with series curator Professor Matthew Hindson, composer Cyrus Meurant and ABC Radio Canberra’s Paula Kruger in the Liangis Theatre.

The work will be performed by the CSO Wind Quintet, led by Artist in Focus oboist Diana Doherty, in a concert offering the finest new wind music Australia has to offer, culminating in a performance for oboe and the sound of waterfalls played through smartphones.

A Yorta Yorta woman, Cheetham has been leader and pioneer in the Australian arts landscape for more than 25 years. She composed Australia’s first Indigenous requiem, dedicated to those who died defending their traditional lands in what she calls the ‘Resistance Wars’.

Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace is sung entirely in the Gunditjmara language, and premiered on 15 June 2019, featuring Cheetham with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the MSO Chorus and the Dhungala Children’s Choir.

Renewal also features four works by Ross Edwards, one of Australia’s best-loved composers and a long-time collaborator with Doherty.

Edwards’ works include the atmospheric Water Spirit Song, his wind quintet Incantations, and Ulpirra and Yanada for solo oboe. Meurant’s 2016 Monuments for solo oboe and musical drones rounds out the program.

As part of the CSO’s collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, the concert includes an after-hours viewing of the Women in Vogue exhibition.

A showcase of 60 years of Vogue Australia, the exhibition pays tribute to a number of remarkable Australian women who have featured in its pages.

CONCERT | Renewal
6:30 pm, Thursday, 31 October
Gordon Darling Hall
National Portrait Gallery
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Tickets $29 to $55.

Matthew Hindson Series Curator
Diana Doherty Oboe, Artist in Focus
CSO Wind Quintet
Kiri Sollis Flute Megan Pampling Oboe
Eloise Fisher Clarinet Kristen Sutcliffe Bassoon
Dianna Gaetjens French Horn.

Ross Edwards Water Spirit Song (2003)
Cyrus Meurant Monuments (2016)
Deborah Cheetham New CSO commission (2019)
Ross Edwards Incantations (1985). Plus Ulpirra and Yanada.

Tickets are available online at cso.org.au/event/renewal. Patrons must register separately for the 5:30 pm pre-concert conversation at cso.org.au/event/renewal as numbers are strictly limited.

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