mulaka milaythina - The Hunting Ground

I have been commissioned by the Clarence Jazz Festival to write a collaborative work for the opening night of the 2023 festival in February! This is the brainchild of festival directors Stevie McEntee and Bek Varko, cultural officers at Clarence Council, and is generously supported by Festivals Australia.

I am working with Nunami Sculthorpe-Green, a palawa/Warlpiri woman, writer/historian and all round mover and shaker. She is researching the history of the Oyster Bay nation on the east side of the Derwent River in Hobart (Clarence shire), and creating a text. My job is to create music which responds to and weaves through and around the text.

We will be presenting the resulting work on Feb, 1, as the opening festival event at piyura kitina (Risdon Cove), a deeply significant site for the palawa people. It will be performed again and recorded on Feb 5 in the Rosny barn. 

What an honour and a gift! This is a tremendous opportunity to grow musically and personally, and to learn about my new Tasmanian home. I am deeply grateful.