Tunes Hit the Track
For the first time in over a decade, the Darwin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) hits the road for a special Territory Tour, stopping off in Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs.
WORDS TIERNEY WHITE
IMAGE PAZ TASSONE
WITH AROUND 70 musicians and crew in tow, it’s quite the operation, but a worthwhile one if you ask DSO Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Jon Tooby.
“Everyone’s very excited about it, it’s always a very bonding experience for an orchestra, going on tour, and it’s an opportunity for people to really get to know each other outside of that rehearsal room and the concert stage. I think it’s really, really important,” he says.
“We’re very excited about going, we’re taking a really fun program, but one of the things we are doing that’s a bit different is we are celebrating and working with artists in each place.”
Kicking things off in Katherine is a collaboration with Gypsy Schmidt at the grand opening of the Balang T.E. Lewis Amphitheatre at Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre. This special event includes a naming ceremony with Djilpin Arts, Djilpin Dancers, and Wugularr Elders, and is sure to be a heart-warming experience.
Further down the track in Tennant Creek, Dr Shellie Morris AO joins the ranks alongside Warumungu women at Barkly Regional Arts. This debut collaboration with Connected Beginnings Tennant Creek presents new songs in Warumungu language to inspire strong, proud little ones, celebrate landscape, animals, and language, and to preserve language through music.
The final stop on this special Territory Tour is Mparntwe/Alice Springs, with not one, but two chances to see the DSO in action.
Bliss out to the sounds of the orchestra as they take the stage at Parrtjima – A Festival in Light, a breathtaking open-air experience set amongst the ancient backdrop of the MacDonnell Ranges at Alice Springs Desert Park. MusicNT’s Desert Divas – Catherine Satour, Casii Williams, and Bronwyn Stuart – accompany the DSO, their soulful voices set to get spines tingling.
The second Central Australian performance is held at Araluen Arts Centre, and a little different to the rest of the tour. DSO Deconstructed offers a delightful, intimate afternoon of chamber music, showcasing music for small ensembles, from delicate duets to spirited quartets.
Tooby says the tour allows audiences across the NT to have access to classical music, something the DSO cares deeply about.
“It’s important that the DSO is on offer for the Territory – it’s not just a Darwin-centric thing – and particularly by sharing the space with local artists as well, I think that’s really significant,” he says.
“We’re playing quite diverse repertoire as well, they’re going to get to hear some classics, but we’re doing Star Wars and Frozen – some popular tunes that they would have all seen on the big screen. And we’re also celebrating culture.
“We’re also taking, importantly, the work we commissioned last year – the Gurrulwa Guligi Cyclone Tracy tribute that Netanela [Mizrahi] wrote with Aunty B … it’s going to be quite an event.”
Relish the opportunity to see the DSO and local artists in a town near you, as opportunities such as these aren’t always possible. Go on, treat your ears.
DSO Territory Tour
WHEN TUE 8 APR | 7PM
AT GYRACC
COST FREE-$45 | $105 FAM
WHEN THU 10 APR | 7PM
AT BARKLY REGIONAL ARTS
COST FREE-$45 | $105 FAM
WHEN SAT 12 APR | 6.30PM
AT PARRTJIMA – A FESTIVAL IN LIGHT
COST $15-$115
DSO Deconstructed
WHEN SUN 13 APR | 2PM
AT ARALUEN ARTS CENTRE
COST FREE-$45 | $105 FAM
