Ngarra-Burria Piyanna: Indigenous Composers Make an Old Piano Sing
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2021
Authors
Davie, Scott
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Abstract
A research project from 2020, aided through the auspices of the ABC’s Fresh Start program, led to the release of ‘Ngarra-Burria Piyanna: Indigenous Composers Make and Old Piano Sing’, a compilation of four new musical works by Indigenous composers (ABC Classic). Working with my colleague, Dr Chris Sainsbury, founder and director of the Ngarra-Burria First Peoples Composer Program, we brought prominence to the oldest keyboard instrument in the ANU School of Music Keyboard Institute collection, a square piano built in Europe around 1770. The pivotal date – which marks the mapping of the East Coast of Australia by Cook – was the catalyst for commissioning the new works. Nardi Simpson, Elizabeth Sheppard, Rhyan Clapham and Tim Gray were inspired in manifold ways by the intersection of this historical instrument and colonial history. Rhyan
Clapham chose to accompany himself in a rap that encapsulates the entire 250 years of settlement, while Elizabeth Sheppard and Tim Gray created gentle and profound reflections. The work by Nardi Simpson is a brilliantly coded comment of protest. My presentation will outline the project, reflect on the interactions with the composers and their views on ‘indigenising’ the historic piano, and take into account my representative role in working with Chris Sainsbury around this cultural relic. To summarise, our work sought to highlight that with ‘honesty, authenticity, and a shared passion, music can show a way forward to a brighter future’ (Sainsbury and Davie, The Conversation, 1/2/21).
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2021 Annual Conference of the Musicological Society of Australia and the 20th Symposium on Indigenous Music and Dance
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Conference presentation
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Open Access
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