Upcoming Events 2021
With the recent changes in restrictions related to singing, the NSW Government now allows up to 5 singers together indoors and unlimited singers outdoors with mandated distancing in place.
RCV is cautiously optimistic that plans for its first "live" performance
with an audience in the second half of 2021 are on track!
WELDED VOICES
River City Voices is thrilled to be collaborating with talented musicians from Parramatta's Information & Cultural Exchange (I.C.E.) program Club Weld.
Seven songs from seven composers will be arranged for the choir, rehearsed and then recorded for global release by the middle of 2021. (Image of RCV Artistic Director, Sarah Penicka-Smith and singer/songwriter Jerrah Patston).
This project was specifically devised to keep artists and choristers engaged despite the challenges and fluctuating nature of COVID performance and rehearsal restrictions related to singing.
It also aims to ensure that diversity of cultural expression is appreciated, and that access to beneficial networks and other resources is increased.
River City Voices gratefully acknowledges funding support from a City of Parramatta Council Creative Economy grant.
AUSTRALIAN PROGRAM
Originally scheduled to be performed in August 2020, we plan to premiere two works by local Indigenous composers
TROY RUSSELL and ELIZABETH SHEPPARD as part of a larger Australian composer focused program.
These works have been commissioned by River City Voices with generous support from
ELIZABETH SHEPPARD
Hi everyone! I was born on Wurundjeri country (now known as Melbourne, Australia), and I grew up on Kaurna Country (Adelaide, South Australia). My Mum and Dad decided to live in Kaurna Country because it was halfway between their birth Countries - Whadjuk Noongarup (Perth, Western Australia), and Boonwurrung Country (Wonthaggi, Victoria). We could stay in touch with both sides that way, we drove and camped across the Nullabor, and travelled the other way to Wonthaggi, Victoria, in an old Chevrolet with a meat safe full of food strapped to the back. My work background is in teaching, librarianship, singing and composing. Thanks to my hard working Mum and Dad, the University of Adelaide, Sydney University, Eora Aboriginal College, Tranby Aboriginal College, Mooghalin Arts, the Australian Music Centre, and the Australian National University, I received a powerful developmental mix of Western and Indigenous education, that enables me, as a mature student, to undertake music research.
In 2016 I was selected for an ANU Internship in Indigenous Composition, and this led to an ANU Postgraduate Research Scholarship, and my current HDR research in Indigenous Composition. I'm passionate about my Indigenous heritage, and the power of contemporary tradition-based music to catalyse constructive dialogue and inclusive academic thinking that connects with grass roots communities and cultures of all kinds.
At The Australian National University I do full time Research by Composition Practice, via online and professional development workshops and programs for ANU researchers, as well as consulting with Supervisor Dr. Sainsbury, and doing composition commissions. From time to time I post on my Elizabeth Sheppard Music, Western Sydney Reconciliation Review and Australian Church Music WordPress sites, and also write scholarly papers, books and book chapters about Indigenous music and composition, with a special interest in healing what I call, Australia's Music Apartheid Gap.
My online profile has grown like Topsy, like my composition catalogue, that will appear soon on my Australian Music Centre Associate Composer page. Have a look at my Linkedin profile, and my Facebook page, or view some of my essays on Scribd. You can hear my music on the Indigenous Composer Ngarra-Burria programs that Stephen Adams New Waves podcasts for the ABC, and my scores will soon be on ScoreExchange.com and SheetMusic.com.
TROY RUSSELL
Troy Russell, Gamiliroi and Biripi man of NSW, plays bass, drums, banjo and guitar.
He has played long-term with Walangari Kantawarra's group the Black Turtles and appeared at most major Aboriginal music festivals. He also plays with the Green Hand Band and has recently formed his own folk music group GiiMusic. His other credits include film-making and song-writing and was recently commissioned for a piece by the Sydney Living Museums. At present he teaches DanceFilm at NAISDA in Kariong near Gosford.