TIDES OF MUSIC

LET THE TIDE of music carry you beyond the horizon. Darwin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) celebrates islands as places of connection in Island Signal, Island Song, its second concert of the season. 

WORDS BROOKE GIBBS 
IMAGE PAZ TASSONE

Presented in The Playhouse at AANT Centre, this evocative program invites audiences to explore islands – not as remote outposts – but as vibrant places of encounter, beauty, and shared human experience. 

There’s something quietly magical about islands. Suspended between land and sea, they exist as places of arrival and departure, of isolation and exchange. It’s this quiet tension between solitude and connection that sits at the heart of this upcoming concert from DSO, inviting audiences to listen a little deeper. 

Drawing on the imagery of islands as cultural crossroads, the program brings together works that echo across oceans and time. It’s not just a collection of compositions – it’s a meditation on how place shapes sound, and how music, in turn, shapes our understanding of place. 

Guest Conductor Fabian Russell opens the concert, conducting Mills’ composition, Island Signal, Island Song. Featuring four horn soloists from within the DSO – Heath Parkinson, Noah Cass, Jethro Llewellyn, and Joal Hoare – the piece is grounded in the sounds of the Torres Strait, from the call of the conch shell to the rhythmic echoes of island life. It’s a work that feels both intimate and expansive, connecting listeners to Country while stretching across distance. 

“My piece is based on the idea of calling across space and time,” says DSO Artistic Director and Composer Richard Mills.

“Our French horn section features soloists and progresses into the hall for music of response and echo which finally calls the players back to stage – celebrating the thrill of recognition of the magic of echo and the human commonalities which we all share regardless of distance,” he says. 

With Lintukoto (Isle of Bliss), the program moves into the luminous world of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, whose music conjures a mythical island of calm and radiance. It’s a tonal shift that leans into dreamlike textures, offering a sense of escape, or perhaps arrival, depending on where you let your mind wander. 

Closing the program is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4 in F Minor, a work that turns the idea of an island inward. Written during a period of personal turmoil, the Symphony becomes less about geography and more about emotional terrain – a journey through fate, resistance, and resilience. 

While earlier works on the program explore physical landscapes, Tchaikovsky brings the audience into a more introspective space, where the idea of isolation becomes something deeply human. 

Together, these works invite us to consider islands not as places apart, but as spaces of encounter, beauty, and inspiration. Through the journey of music, they form a narrative, not of separation, but of connection. 

Island Signal, Island Song asks audiences to reconsider what it means to be apart. In a place like Darwin, defined by distance and diversity, the theme resonates strongly. Here, isolation doesn’t mean disconnection – it often means creativity, adaption, and a unique kind of cultural exchange. 

Sit in the in-between where land meets sea, and where music becomes a bridge between the two. This work reveals islands as spaces of encounter, harmony, and imagination.

Island Signal, Island Song 
WHEN  SAT 9 MAY | 7.30PM 
AT AANT CENTRE 
COST $20-$75 
INFO dso.org.au