Music & Tea at WAG: Ocean Whisperings

EMERGING CONCERT ARTISTS AT THE GALLERY

Exceptional Young Musicians Curate Concerts for the Community

Our 2025 Series launches with mezzo-soprano OLIVE CULLEN and pianist RONAN APCAR; they present songs from Penelope and other works inspired by the ocean. Penelope is a song cycle by composer Sarah Kirkland Snider, with lyrics by playwright Ellen McLaughlin. Inspired by Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey, it is a meditation on memory, identity, and what it means to come home. International reviews have lauded it, placing Kirkland at the forefront of contemporary composers.  

The New York Times (2015) described Penelope as "a rapturous song cycle...". Janson Green from Pitchfork writes that Penelope is "... a gorgeous piece of music, but it is more — it is also a hauntingly vivid psychological portrait, one that explores a dark scenario with a light, almost quizzical touch, finding poetic resonances everywhere… No matter what perspective you bring to… it bears profound rewards." 

Cullen and Apcar's program is rich with perspectives from different eras, genders and geographical spaces. It includes The Lotus Eaters, from Penelope, Sarah Kirkland Snider | Penelope, by Cecilia Livingston | Dead Friend, from Penelope|Youkali, by Weill | The Land Where Corals Lie, from Sea Pictures, by Elgar | Cruda Sorte, from l'Italiana in Algeri, by Rossini | Hymne a l'amour, by Piaf & Monnot | At the edge of the sea, by Holland | Home, from Penelope | Harbour Song (Ronan piano solo) | The Mermaid's Lament, by Martin | Les Berceaux, by Faure (Sarah's piece).

ABOUT THE VENUE 

We respect and acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Dharawal Country, Elders past and present, and extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

BlueScope Gallery at Wollongong Aart Gallery offers an intimate and beautiful space to listen to music by emerging artists. 

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS 

Now based in Melbourne, OLIVE CULLEN calls Wombarra home and began her training with Karen Cummings. Before heading to Melbourne, she also undertook short courses at NIDA and with the NSW Arts Unit. She has performed in operas, concerts, plays, musicals, pantomimes, films, cabarets, variety shows and private functions. Olive holds a Bachelor of Music Performance from Melbourne Conservatorium, where she studied with Suzanne Johnston. Simultaneously, she completed a diploma in Languages, majoring in German. She has been a Scholar with Opera Scholars Australia since 2022, is a Rising Artist with the Australian Contemporary Opera Company (ACOCo) and is a regular performer with Opera in the Country.

Olive is passionate about promoting the value of singing and music in communities, winning the Union House Theatre's 2021 Community Engagement Award for her work on the UMMTA Chorus. Credits include an ensemble role in Mahagonny Songspiel and Seven Little Australians with Opera Carnivale, featured artist in the Crystal Clear Productions Cabaret, and featured performer in the Club Voltaire Vaudevillian Nights. Recent credits include Moth in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten, and Chorus/Third Spirit Cover in the Magic Flute (Mozart) with the University of Melbourne Masters of Opera.

RONAN APCAR is a pianist and composer with a reputation of versatility, edge, and tenacity. His love for music across many styles – jazz to the avant-garde, contemporary art music to alt-rock and pop – translates into his open-minded, exciting, and unique work as a musician. Described as "a talent beyond his age" (Limelight Magazine), Ronan is best known for his bold programming, performances of contemporary repertoire, and advocacy for Australian music. He is Ensemble Offspring's 2025 Hatched Emerging Performer. 

Ronan performs in an eclectic mix of concerts and festivals in both intimate and large-scale venues across Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and regional NSW and Victoria, and is just at home as a guest soloist with an orchestra as he is improvising as part of a multimedia DJ set. The current recipient of the ANU Love Supreme Fellowship grant and a nominee for the prestigious Freedman Fellowship, Ronan's thoughtful, innovative, and unconventional programming sees his performances range from genre-defying cabaret to experimental new music concerts, free improvisations in art galleries to theatre-music fusion shows in cafés. He also regularly works as an improviser, curator, and collaborator in musical and interdisciplinary settings.