Performance: Sydney Chamber Choir
Brenda Gifford is an Aboriginal Australian composer from Wreck Bay on the South Coast of New South Wales. Minga Bagan was commissioned by the Sydney Chamber Choir in 2021, a musical celebration of Earth. The message of the piece is that all of us humans have a role in protecting Earth.
About Minga Bagan:
“From Yuin country on the state’s south coast to Yuwaalaraay country in the north, New South Wales is alive with Indigenous music and stories.
Yuin composer Brenda Gifford’s Mother Earth/Minga Bagan is an acknowledgement of country commissioned by the Sydney Chamber Choir to be performed at the start of all 2021 concerts. The piece acknowledges the shared role in caring for country, with text in the Durga language from the south coast of NSW.”
– Australian Broadcasting Corporation
About Brenda Gifford:
“Brenda Gifford is a composer and proud Yuin woman whose culture is the basis of her arts practice. Brenda has been commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, by Canberra International Music Festival for her work Gambambarawaraga (‘seasons’ in Dhurgha language) and the Four Winds Festival. Mungala/Clouds commissioned for American star flautist Claire Chase premiered at National Sawdust New York in 2019. She is First Nations Resident Composer with Ensemble Offspring in 2020 as well as undertaking a Master of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music as part of the Composing Women program. Her ARIA nominated album Music for the Dreaming, a work tailored for children exploring Dreamtime stories, received multiple performances at the Sydney Opera House in 2019, co-presented by Ensemble Offspring, ABC KIDS Listen and ABC Classics. She has toured extensively as a jazz saxophonist as a member of the reggae band Mixed Relations with Bart Willoughby.”
Leave a Reply