That Old Red Shawl: a musical response to Mother Island

Curated in response to our Mother Island exhibition, join soprano Sara Macliver and pianist Liam Wooding for a performance exploring love, motherhood, and the memories we carry through music.

Featuring songs by Charles Ives and a selection of Baroque favourites, the heart of the performance lies in Robert Schumann’s sublime song cycle, Frauenliebe und Leben, which traces a woman’s experience of love, marriage, motherhood, and loss. Gently echoing the exhibition’s themes of memory, care, and belonging, the program opens a dialogue between music across time and the artworks.

TICKETS

$45 ticket price includes drinks and canapes

TIMES

Doors open 6:15pm with pre-concert refreshments

Performance begins 7pm

PROGRAM

FRESCOBALDI              Se l’aura spira tutta vezzosa

STROZZI                       Che si può fare?

HANDEL                       Tra speme e timore from Alcina

                                     Piangerò la sorte mia from Giulio Cesare

SCHUMANN                Frauenliebe und Leben, Op. 42

                                          Seit ich ihn gesehen

                                          Er, der Herrlichste von allen

                                          Ich kann’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben

                                          Du Ring an meinem Finger

                                          IHelft mir, ihr Schwestern

                                          ISüsser Freund, du blickest

                                          IAn meinem Herzen, an meiner Brust

                                          INun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan

IVES                             Songs My Mother Taught Me

                                    The Things Our Fathers Loved

                                    Memories (“Very Pleasant” and “Rather Sad”)

Mother Island runs until 5 December 2026, Tuesday – Saturday, 11am-4pm. Entry is always free.

Mother Island brings together three distinct artistic practices which share a deep engagement with storytelling through material. Across sculpture, installation and textile works, the artists examine the bonds that connect us to people, places and histories, while reflecting on the ways culture, memory and care are passed between generations. The exhibition proposes the idea of the "mother island" as a site of origin, belonging and protection, but also a space from which we must sometimes depart in order to define our own identities.

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We acknowledge we are situated on Noongar land. We pay our respects to the traditional owners of the lands on which we live and work across Western Australia and Australia.

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View all related events to the exhibitions at uwa.edu.au/lwag/Events

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Image credit: soprano Sara Macliver and pianist Liam Wooding