''Pecan Summer'' is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

written and composed by the

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

opera singer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, who also sang in every season. It is the first opera written by an Indigenous Australian and involving an Indigenous cast, and was performed by Cheetham's Short Black Opera Company.

Cast

''Pecan Summer'' is the first opera written by an Indigenous Australian and involving an Indigenous cast. Filmmaker Jub Clerc was cast as a soprano in 2010 and will be an associate director for the 10th anniversary production.

Synopsis

The storyline was based on the February 1939 Cummeragunja walk-off, in which Cheetham's grandparents were involved. The timeline of the opera moves from the

Dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally u ...

to July 2006, on the banks of the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...

near

Federation Square Federation Square (marketed and colloquially known as Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Street ...

in Melbourne; to 1939, on the banks of the Dhungala (

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

) near the Cummeragunja Mission; to several months later in winter 1939; to

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

at an unspecified time; to Federation Square on 13 February 2008, the day of Kevin Rudd's apology.

Background and composition

''Pecan Summer'' was commissioned for the Olympic Arts Festival, which was held in association with the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London."'Stolen Generation' singer debuts landmark Aboriginal opera"
(AFP) ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 21 July 2010 The

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

was written by Cheetham in

Yorta Yorta The Yorta Yorta, also known as Jotijota, are an Aboriginal Australian people who have traditionally inhabited the area surrounding the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wale ...

and English, during a short stay in

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

, Italy. With his agreement, Cheetham used a recording of Prime Minister

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

's February 2008

apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples On 13 February 2008, the Parliament of Australia issued a formal apology to Indigenous Australians for forced removals of Indigenous Australians, Australian Indigenous children (often referred to as the Stolen Generations) from their familie ...

for the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Gover ...

as part of the work. It was orchestrated by Jessica Wells. The Short Black Opera for Kids program was formed in 2009 in order to create a children's chorus to perform in ''Pecan Summer'', which became known as the Dhungala Children's Choir and continues to operate.

Performances

The opera had an unofficial preview performance in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in July 2010. Its official world premiere took place at the WestSide Performing Arts Centre,

Mooroopna Mooroopna is a town located north of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is on the banks of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River opposite the larger town of Shepparton. The Midland Highway (Victoria), Midland Highw ...

, Victoria, on 8 October 2010, where it was presented by the Short Black Opera CompanyShort Black Opera Company proudly presents Pecan Summer - World Premiere
"Start Date: Friday 8 October 2010; End Date: Saturday 9 October 2010". and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra under David Kram. The world premiere performance was broadcast by

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

on 28 November 2010. Short Black Opera has produced four seasons of ''Pecan Summer'': Mooroopna 2010; Melbourne 2011; Perth 2012; Adelaide 2014; Sydney 2016. The 2016 season was performed in the Concert Hall of the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

and was recorded by

National Indigenous Television National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

and

. A 10th anniversary production is planned.

References

External links

*{{vimeo, 244761572, Pecan Summer
''Pecan Summer''
(2017) on SBS on Demand Operas Operas set in Australia 2010 operas English-language operas Operas set in the 20th century Operas set in the 21st century Operas by Deborah Cheetham