North meets south and freshwater meets saltwater when Darwin based Arafura Music Collective and Sydney mavericks Ensemble Offspring collaborate for the first time.

Stories of Water and Earth features Yuwaalaraay woman Nardi Simpson and Djapa woman Melanie Mununggurr as special guests, weaving together instrumental chamber music, beat poetry and dreaming stories.

At the heart of Ensemble Offspring is an unwavering commitment to the creation of living new music. They stand at the forefront of musical innovation in Australia as the country’s most fearless and virtuosic instrumentalists. Based in Garramilla (Darwin) on Gulumoerrgin (Larrakia) land, Arafura Music Collective foster connections across genres, cultures, generations and communities through their joyful, intimate chamber music performances. Joining them as a composer and featured performer is Nardi Simpson. Her skill as a storyteller offers an opportunity to hear the language of the land, explore the beauty of singing to land and experience music inspired by the land.

Stories of Water and Earth combines a performance by Nardi sharing Yuwaalaraay womens’ creative and cultural practice, with a new long-form commission from Netanela Mizrahi and Djapu mother, poet, storyteller and performer Melanie Mununggurr. Melanie’s writing is all-encompassing of her identity as Yolŋgu, the triumphs and struggles of motherhood, neurodiversity, being queer and connections to land and culture.

Stories of Water and Earth is both a story and a musical journey of language, culture and singing.

From the artists:

“Stories of Water and Earth is just that; an oral representation of my life experience and connection to water, earth, and sky. It is my knowledge interweaved with my dreams of my peoples past, present and future. I imagine a way of life and reimagine the way life was, and is before colonisation, when our people were at one with the trees, oceans, and stars. This beautiful collaboration with Netanela is my journey, from the first sunrise to loving and yearning and returning home for the last breath. Netanela’s music gives my words special life and meaning.” – Melanie Mununggurr

“Freshwater woman fashions the stories and sounds of Yuwaalaraay language and country into a river and invites you to float, dive or tinker at its edges. As Nardi shapes traditional stories and contemporary compositions into flowing narratives, Ensemble Offspring infuse these resonant, cultural gifts with deftness, sensitivity and skill. Freshwater Woman is a celebration of place, story and connection. Let its rivers fill you.” – Nardi Simpson