Funerary art draws together Chinese, First Nations and Western traditions.
Guzheng artist Mindy Meng Wang and vocalist Jess Hitchcock join the CSO Chamber Ensemble for our first Australian Series concert in 2027. A thread of rituals and objects connected with death runs through the concert, inspired by the archaeological treasures of the National Museum of Australia’s Terracotta Warriors exhibition.
We begin with Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO’s Woven Song – Pukumani for guzheng and a small ensemble of Western instruments, named for the Tiwi Pukumani ceremonies to honour the dead. The piece, the fifth in Cheetham Fraillon’s Woven Song series, responds to the Embassy Tapestry that resides in the Australian Embassy to China in Beijing, woven by the Australian Tapestry Workshop, drawing on the art and cultural knowledge of Tiwi artist Pedro Wonaeamirri.
The program spans the solo flute of Julian Yu’s Crossing to Liza Lim’s Ming Qi (Bright Vessel) for oboe and percussion, named for tomb items buried for the dead to use, and features the world premieres of two new CSO commissions, by Christine Pan and Mindy Meng Wang.
PROGRAM
Deborah Cheetham Fraillon
Woven Song – Pukumani
Julian Yu
Crossing
Liza Lim
Ming Qi (Bright Vessel)
Christine Pan
New Work*
Mindy Meng Wang
New Work*
ARTISTS
Mindy Meng Wang: guzheng
Jess Hitchcock: vocalist
CSO Chamber Ensemble
Jessica Cottis: presenter
* Premiere of CSO commission
When
Duration
Ticket prices
| Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult | $70 - 80 |
| Concession (means-tested pensioner, full-time students) | $61 - 70 |
| Under 35 | $35 |
| Student rush | $16 |