Get Wild With Darwin Symphony Orchestra

The animal kingdom has long been a source of inspiration for artists, from the Romantic poets through to the makers of Walt Disney’s The Lion King. It also got Darwin Symphony Orchestra’s Education and Outreach Officer Tara Murphy pondering how to get kids learning about music and the NT’s unique fauna at the same time.

Murphy decided the best way was to take musicians out into the animals’ habitat, or the next best thing to it – right in Darwin’s CBD. Yep, we’re talking about Crocosaurus Cove. And so, Sonic Safari was born – a fun-filled concert of snappy scales and creepy chords set amongst some truly fearsome fauna.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to play in front of our natural icons, and it combines two of my passions – nature and music.” Murphy says.

In this interactive event, the audience has the opportunity to handle different animals and learn about how they can be represented in music. Murphy has even composed a few of her own tunes for the occasion, using a Brazilian percussion instrument called the cuíca, which can be made at home with a can, a skewer and a cloth.

“It sounds like a monkey, and another name for it is a monkey drum. There’s not a lot of music written for cuíca, so I had to come up with something!” she laughs.

Joining Murphy on her melodic adventures are some of the musicians from DSO’s Young Artist Program. Look out for a special interpretation of Rimsky-Korsokov’s The Flight of the Bumble Bee, along with performances of other animal-themed favourites. And it’s sure to be fun for the grown-ups, too!

With a specially choreographed crocodile body percussion piece on the cards, this is a show that gets every audience member involved in creating an amazing wildlife soundscape.

Sonic Safari
WHEN SAT 15 MAY | 8.30AM
AT CROCOSAURUS COVE
COST $23 | $15 CHILD
INFO dso.org.au