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Credits
Dr Lou Bennett AM (Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung), voice
Allara Briggs Pattison (Yorta Yorta), voice
SiloSQ
Jenny Khafagi, violin
Lynette Rayner, violin
Ceridwen Davies, viola
Caerwen Martin, cello Artistic Director
Original Composition by Dr Lou Bennett AM
String Quartet arrangement by Caerwen Martin
Program
nyernurwan
marree wan
woi woi pee
dhama yenbena danuk
Synopsis
wurukur djuanduk balag—Ancestors Are Calling is a beautiful new song cycle composed by the incomparable Dr Lou Bennett AM (Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung), which responds to the precious belongings of First Peoples held in collections worldwide.
Written in multiple First Peoples languages, the work speaks to the living essence of the artefacts that are alive with the spirit and energy of Country and the people from which they came. Bennett, a co-founder of both Tiddas and the iconic Black Arm Band, has drawn together a range of collaborators: Allara (Yorta Yorta) and string quartet Silo SQ to perform this exquisite and moving work.
The work shares intimate knowledge of family, expressing that nothing is inanimate; it is a call for families to take the Ancestors home, back to where they belong.
Dr Lou Bennett AM
Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung, Dr Lou Bennett AM is a former member of the internationally acclaimed trio Tiddas. Bennett is a consummate performer, playing audiences worldwide. Bennett is a prolific songwriter/composer and during her ten years with Tiddas (1990-2000) penned some of the group’s signature songs.
Bennett’s work stretches over a vast area within the arts industry including her various roles as Performer, Songwriter, Musical and Artistic Director, Composer, Actor, Soundscape and Music Designer and Educator.
In 2006 Bennett was a co-founder of the iconic Black Arm Band and was an instrumental force in the company’s transformative journey from being a one-off ‘special project’, becoming an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governed, not for profit major performing arts company.
Bennett completed her PhD by project at RMIT Melbourne in October 2015. Bennett’s dissertation discusses the importance and relevance of Aboriginal language retrieval, reclamation and regeneration through the medium of the Arts to community health and wellbeing and explores the importance of Indigenous epistemology, methodology and pedagogy in artistic and academic contexts.
Bennett uses her own languages of Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung, extending to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages that can be retrieved, reclaimed and regenerated through songs, stories and performances.
Bennett received the McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the University of Melbourne and was inducted onto the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll for 2017. In 2018 Bennett accepted a member of the Order of Australia. Bennett received a Westpac Research Fellowship in 2021 and continues her research in Sovereign Language Rematriation through Song Pedagogy at the University of Melbourne’s School of Social and Political Science. Bennett was ministerially appointed to the RISING board in 2020 and in 2022 was appointed as the Chair of the Australia Centre at the University of Melbourne.
Allara Briggs Pattison
Allara Briggs Pattison is a powerful Yorta Yorta winyarr. She is a storyteller, composer, director, producer, musician and soundscape designer. With humour and integrity, Allara uses the double-bass and sound samples from Country to weave textures for healing in her work. She is the recipient of the Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent, Music Victoria 2021.
Allara is a founding member of Ensemble Dutala, driven by collaboration and improvisation, she is inspired to bring language and cultural practice to the forefront of her work.
SiloSQ
Silo String Quartet (SiloSQ) was founded 1998 by cellist composer Caerwen Martin. SiloSQ has released seven albums and appear on multiple ABC and independent releases. Their extensive catalogue reaches international audiences and media.
Career highlights include RISING with Dr Lou Bennett AM 2022, headline Melbourne International Jazz Festival with Ambrose Akinmusire and SiloSQ 2019, SiloSQ Carnegie Hall 2008, concert hall performances in Melbourne Sydney Perth Adelaide with the Vince Jones, Vika Bull and Joe Camilleri 2014-2015, Arts Centre with Meow Meow and David Chisholm 2014.
Festival for the Future
Adelaide Festival is proudly Carbon Neutral and you can help us reduce our impact on the environment further! This year, Adelaide Festival has partnered with Reforest and Trees for Life to support the Mannavale farm bushfire recovery project in Adelaide Hills.
Plant one for the planet as part of your Adelaide Festival experience. You can learn more about the project, take action and track your impact here.
Your contribution through Reforest will help repair the damage caused by both bushfires and historical land clearing, and help Trees for Life plant a range of native species to restore an area of forest habitat for native wildlife.
