Performed more than 100 times in sold out halls across Australia and internationally, Where Song Began is a celebration of songbirds. Described as "spectacular" by Limelight Magazine in a 5-star review, the 50-minute program includes music spanning 300 years, from Johann Heinrich Schmelzer and J.S. Bach to Arvo Pärt and new commissions, enhanced by a film of evocative visual projections and an immersive soundscape.

Performed as part of the 2025 Lake Macquarie Dobell Festival.

"A delicate and beautiful fusion"
"Like being sung to by the country"
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Limelight

About the performers:

The Bowerbird Collective makes art for nature. Their work has received international acclaim, and their ARIA-nominated albums of threatened bird, frog and mammal calls, 'Songs of Disappearance', reached the top of the ARIA Album Charts ahead of Adele, ABBA and Ed Sheeran. Violinist Simone Slattery was a 2019 Churchill Fellow, received a PhD in Music Performance from the University of Adelaide and performs regularly with Australia's finest ensembles. Cellist Anthony Albrecht was Australia's first graduate of The Juilliard School's Historical Performance program and enjoys an international performance career.
For more information visit www.bowerbirdcollective.org

Program:
Arvo Pärt - Fratres for solo violin, 1977
Sarah Hopkins - Reclaiming the Spirit, 1993
Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending, 1917
Chris Williams - bird, songs, seas, 2017
Ross Edwards - Ecstatic Dance No.2, 1990
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer - Cucu Sonata, 1664
J.S. Bach - Prelude from Cello Suite No.1, c.1720
David Lang - Anthochaera carunculata (Red Wattle Bird), New Commission, 2017
Ngarra Burra Ferra - Traditional Indigenous hymn

50 minutes without interval, followed by a Q&A