Where Song Began - St Helens

“Where Song Began” is a musical and visual celebration of Australia’s birds and how they shaped the world.

Inspired by leading ornithologist Tim Low’s award-winning book, this performance explores the Australian origins of songbirds, ‘the birds that can sing’. Such is their evolutionary significance, ‘one may ask whether human music would have reached the heights it has, had the first songbird not sung in an Australian rainforest.’

Accessible for all ages, this work contemplates the origin of birdsong and the importance of Australia's rich and colourful bird history. The program includes music spanning 300 years, from Johann Heinrich Schmelzer and J.S. Bach to Arvo Pärt and new Australian works, enhanced by a film of evocative landscape stills, moving images and recordings sourced from the Cornell Ornithology Lab.

The performers: Simone Slattery was recently awarded a PhD in Music Performance from the University of Adelaide and performs regularly with Australia’s finest ensembles. Anthony Albrecht is an Australian graduate of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program and is based in London.

Performance length: 60 minutes without interval, including a Q&A.

The performance features photography from renowned Australian photographers Muneer Al Shanti and Mark Eatwell.