The genesis of Elizabeth Sheppard's Koordaboodjar Heartland for Flute and Harp: A lament for unresolved racial conflict, and a Treaty call

Abstract

Academic discourse on Australian composition practice has explored composer / performer interactions through intercultural documentation and analysis (Sainsbury 2017, Harris 2020). Expanding this discourse, we describe how ANU Ngarra-Burria First Peoples Composer Alumni and postgraduate researcher Elizabeth Sheppard rearranged her 2017 percussion ensemble Koordaboodjar Heartland (which exemplifies her treaty-making composition practice) for flute and harp, via workshopping. Flautist Sally Walker commissioned Sheppard to compose a flute / harp version of Koordaboodjar Heartland for the Resonate concert marking the 150th Anniversary of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where Koordaboodjar Heartland for Flute and Harp premiered on 18 April 2021. Cultural barriers, power imbalances and artistic issues were identified, addressed and overcome, as Sheppard, working with flautist Walker and harpist Emily Granger, applied her Indigenous composition research practice in the workshop. Further works by Sheppard for Walker and Granger are in development. Show more