Arafura Music Collective, 2025 Seasons
Welcome to the Arafura Music Collective 2025 seasons of programs. We are a community of musicians and performing artists based in Garramilla (Darwin) on Gulumoerrgin (Larrakia) land, Northern Territory. Through intimate small ensemble/chamber music performances, we enrich lives, inspire joy, and foster connections across genres, cultures, generations, and communities.
Get connected, be inspired through music!
Old News, Borrowed Blues: Baroque, Blues & Beyond
Friday 9 May 2025
Old News, Borrowed Blues A music al marriage of Baroque, Blues and Beyond: Immerse your ears in Arafura Music Collective’s quirky take on the traditional wedding day checklist: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, showcasing three passionate ensembles:
• The AMC Early Music Mob playing Handel and other works borrowed into the Baroque,
• Darwin's new a cappella group, Auralis, singing jazz standards and heart-wrenching vocal works in mesmerising, close four-part harmony,
• The newly formed Darwin Brass Quintet, pitting Mozart against Miles Davis in its debut performance.
Delight in a captivating mix of baroque gems, innovative new adaptations, and reimagined, jazzy blues.
It's relaxed listening and a poignant, playful, soulful experience not to be missed!
Anglican cathedral
Arafura Music Collective- Duets of Loss & Hope, Darwin
Sunday 9 March 2025
Duets of Loss and Hope explores the timeless impact of music on the human soul. We bring you exquisite intimate duets which provide new perspectives on the enduring genius of composers from the past and present including Bach, Mozart, Pärt and Australian composers Peter Sculthorpe and Felicity Wilcox. Featuring dancers Luther and Zachary Wilson, we bring you profound works that evoke universal themes of loss and hope, creating an emotionally rich experience that transcends generations through music and movement.
NT Supreme Court
Arafura Music Collective - Duets of Loss & Hope, Palmerston
Saturday 8 March 2025
Duets of Loss and Hope explores the timeless impact of music on the human soul. We bring you exquisite intimate duets which provide new perspectives on the enduring genius of composers from the past and present including Bach, Mozart, Pärt and Australian composers Peter Sculthorpe and Felicity Wilcox. Featuring dancers Luther and Zachary Wilson, we bring you profound works that evoke universal themes of loss and hope, creating an emotionally rich experience that transcends generations through music and movement.
Gray Community Hall
The Edge of North
Sunday 17 November 2024
Settle into our northern buildup (Balnba) for our last performance of 2024, with an exploration of music inspired by ideas of North. Experience the Holberg Suite and Grieg’s passionate love of his Nordi heritage, Sculthorpe’s Port Essington which reflects the harsh realities of colonial settlement in Northern Australia and its impact on Indigenous communities and the environment. Be transported to the serene and awe-inspiring Northern night skies with Esenvalds' Stars and immerse yourself in the purity and elegance of Baroque music by Isabella Leonarda.
NT Supreme Court
The Edge of North
Saturday 16 November 2024
Settle into our northern buildup (Balnba) for our last performance of 2024 with an exploration of music inspired by ideas of North. Experience the Holberg Suite and Grieg’s passionate love of his Nordi heritage, Sculthorpe’s Port Essington which reflects the harsh realities of colonial settlement in Northern Australia and its impact on Indigenous communities and the environment. Be transported to the serene and awe-inspiring Northern night skies with Esenvalds' Stars and immerse yourself in the purity and elegance of Baroque music by Isabella Leonarda.
Gray Community Hall Palmerston
Mandolin, Madrigals and More Modern Music
Friday 19 July 2024
MANDOLIN, MADRIGALS & MORE MODERN MUSIC was conceived to explore the possibilities presented by the recent arrival of a baroque mandolin in Darwin. We discovered various sweet and contrasting ways to feature the instrument, eventually straying from the baroque theme to include music by the Beatles and Joni Mitchell. This concert features one of Vivaldi’s mandolin arias, a couple of 18th-century sonatas, motets, and works from 20th-century pop and folk music. Seriously good music with a quirky NT twist!
Christchurch Cathedral
Kaleidoscope- Sugarbag! The music of LGBTQI+ composers
Sunday 2 June 2024
Join Sugarbag and Arafura Music Collective for a celebration of inclusivity, creativity, and sheer musical brilliance!
Kaleidoscope- a concert that refracts the ideas of emotions, colours, and melodies through performance. You will experience an unforgettable journey through sound with the amazing Arafura Music Collective. Kaleidoscope will weave together works by acclaimed Australian LGBTQI+ composers, Robert McIntyre, Cheryl Durongpisitkul, and Felicity Wilcox alongside songs by Darwin based singer-songwriter, Alice Cotton.
We love to bring you musical experiences which are unique! With this performance Ben Opie and the musicians of Arafura Music Collective bring you contemporary art music from the perspectives of the LGBTQI+ creative community. Experience the music and hear the stories of local queer experiences brought to life through brand new compositions by Ben Opie, premiered at this concert.
NT Supreme Court
Kaleidoscope Palmerston -The Music of LGBTQI+ composers
Saturday 1 June 2024
Join us for a celebration of inclusivity, creativity, and sheer musical brilliance!
Kaleidoscope- a concert that refracts the ideas of emotions, colours, and melodies through performance. Join us for an unforgettable journey through sound with the amazing Arafura Music Collective. Kaleidoscope will weave together works by acclaimed Australian LGBTQI+ composers, Robert McIntyre, Cheryl Durongpisitkul, and Felicity Wilcox alongside songs by Darwin based singer-songwriter, Alice Cotton.
We love to bring you musical experiences which are unique! With this performance Ben Opie and the musicians of Arafura Music Collective bring you contemporary art music from the perspectives of the LGBTQI+ creative community. Experience the music and hear the stories of local queer experiences brought to life through brand new compositions by Ben Opie, premiered at this concert.
Gray Community Hall Palmerston
Arafura Music Collective, Balance and Harmony, Supreme Court
Sunday 17 March 2024
Arafura invites you to take the time to restore your equilibrium! Join us and experience musical bliss!
Balance and Harmony” features Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G, and works by Kamilaroi composer Adam Manning, the Renaissance maestro Palestrina, exquisite new works by our own NT composers Annette Anderson and Netanela Mizrahi and music for flute and guitar inspired by the Flamenco and Japanese Zen meditative tradition.
For those who love to listen lying down, you have your own special Bring Your Own Yoga Mat price.
NT Supreme Court Foyer
Arafura Music Collective, Balance and Harmony, Palmerston
Saturday 16 March 2024
Arafura invites you to take the time to restore your equilibrium! Join us and experience musical bliss!
We bring music to the heart of your community! Start the arvo at 3:30 with a cuppa with your community!
“Balance and Harmony” features Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No 3 in G, and works by Kamilaroi composer Adam Manning, an inspiring new work by NT composer Netanela Mizrahi and music for flute and guitar inspired by the fiery Flamenco tradition balanced by the Japanese Zen meditative tradition.
For those who love to listen lying down, you have your own special Bring Your Own Yoga Mat price.
Palmerston College Senior Campus Theatre
Ensemble Offspring: Songbirds
Sunday 19 November 2023
Arafura Music Collective is delighted to present Ensemble Offspring. Songbirds celebrates the breathtaking virtuosity of Australian birdsong with an array of original Australian chamber works commissioned by Ensemble Offspring. Be transported into the Australian bush by the familiar sounds of nature’s own musicians, with a little help from Australia’s leading composers. Performed by Lamorna Nightingale (flutes), Jason Noble (clarinets) and Claire Edwardes (percussion), Songbirds captures the magical bird calls of the red centre, virtuosic avian displays and Indigenous musical perspectives on these beguiling creatures of the sky.
Ensemble Offspring is Australia’s leading new music group. Lead by internationally acclaimed percussionist Claire Edwardes OAM, they are Australia’s foremost champions of contemporary classical music. The group has commissioned and premiered over 350 new works and has toured First Nations music and new commissions worldwide.
Masonic Hall
Darlington Quartet and Arafura Music Collective in Concert
Sunday 12 November 2023
Join Arafura Music Collective and Darlington Quartet for the stunning grand finale of our weekend extravaganza of chamber music. Arafura and Darlington unite for a unique Darwin concert. Featuring Mozart, Schubert, Maria Von Weber, local artists Nick Yates and Rob Llewlyn and Iain Grandage's stunning 'Black Dogs' with guitarist Francis Diatschenko. It is an unmissable event!
NT Supreme Court
Afternoon Delights with Darlington Quartet
Saturday 11 November 2023
Live music in the heart of your community! Join Arafura Music Collective in Gray Community Hall for a complimentary afternoon tea followed by a relaxed live music concert with Darlington Quartet.
With a cuppa or a juice in hand, we invite you to chat with the musicians and meet other music lovers from Palmerston and the rural area.
From Kiss to the classics, experience a sense of connection with others while listening together to live music played by our internationally renowned visiting musicians including NT's own Jon Tooby. Enjoy music that is fun, connects and enlivens us.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Gray Community Hall Palmerston
Free Youth String Workshop
Saturday 11 November 2023
Join the Arafura Music Collective and the Darlington Quartet at Gray Community Hall for a free inspiring youth workshop, where you will see music mentorship, the nurturing of creativity and honing talents. Meet the Top End's young chamber musicians.
Free! Parents, families and friends please book so you get a seat.
Gray Community Hall Palmerston
Darlington String Quartet "Intimate Letters"
Friday 10 November 2023
Arafura Music Collective is delighted to present "Intimate Letters " A performance all about love! Unrequited love, love of the Australian landscape, and love of traditional folk music.
Be prepared to let the Darlington String Quartet immerse you in a musical experience that intertwines the folk music tradition, the beauty of nature, and the flames of passionate unrequited love.
Be transported by the rollicking traditional Air “the Dromer’ and Emma Jayakumar's "Bell Birds Suite" a love song which transports you to the heart of the Australian bush, capturing the sounds of the birds, the trees and flowers and the smells of the earth.
The centerpiece of the concert "Intimate Letters" is a profoundly emotional manifesto of love that delves into the depths of composer Leoš Janáček's unrequited love affair.
Arrive early for drink at the bar and be prepared for an amazing evening.
Masonic Hall
One Man Band - Nick Russoniello -Arafura Music Collective
Saturday 12 August 2023
Award winning saxophonist Nick Russoniello presents a virtuosic tour de force of melodies, counterpoint and grooves. Armed with a loop station and multiple saxophones, Russoniello journeys through music from baroque to beatbox and beyond. Audiences will be taken behind the scenes of the creative process as the music is constructed layer by layer before their eyes (and ears!). Russoniello reimagines the music of Telemann, Elena Kats-Chernin, Katy Abbot and Creedence Clearwater.
Presented by Arafura Music Collective in collaboration with Musica Viva 2023 Regional Touring
Masonic Hall
Arafura- Rediscovered and Reimagined Chamber Music
Sunday 4 June 2023
Join us on a musical journey as we rediscover lost treasures and reimagine familiar forms through the music of Haydn, Jenkins, Finn, and Afghani composer Khaled Arman from Ensemble Kaboul.
Our program features Michael Bardon playing Haydn's masterpiece Cello Concerto in C, which was lost for over 200 years and re discovered in1 961. Originally for small classical orchestra we reimagine it as an exquisite chamber work for Cello and String Octet.
Hear the astoundingly beautiful Karl Jenkins' Palladio for strings modelled on the Baroque Concerto Grosso form.
Add the music of Tim Finn from Crowded House re imagined for chamber ensemble, this performance celebrates the versatility of music and proves that great music transcends genres.
Experience the vibrant rhythms and haunting melodies of Gah Shekayat, a classical song from the Persian tradition, reimagined in a unique and exciting way that blends Western classical instruments and traditional Persian music.
NT Supreme Court Foyer
Arafura Music Collective, Early Music for the Late Afternoon
Sunday 21 May 2023
Early Music for the Late Afternoon, in the Louvred Lounge – May 21, 5-6pm
Arafura Music Collective invites you to join us for the first of our 2023 Louvred Lounge Series at the historic Myilly Point Heritage Precinct, in the intimate space of Mines House.
Experience some of our favourite early music vocal and instrumental works from composers Purcell, Dowland, Frescobaldi, Caccini, Vivaldi, and Ernesto Baron.
Our Arafura Early Music Ensemble are historically inspired musicians who are passionate about early music. With musicians Ania Tait, Bill Grose, Brian Cullen, Claire Kilgariff, Hester Wright and Michael Bardon It's the perfect opportunity to take a relaxing delve into Baroque music, from its earliest roots through to the Galant period.
Come and experience the magic of early music in the beautiful setting of Myilly Point Heritage Precinct. Very limited tickets! See you there!
The Wellness Hub (Mines House)
The Inner Voice- The Creative Power of Women Composers
Sunday 12 March 2023
Celebrate International Women’s Day 2023, March 12 with Arafura Music Collective.
“The Inner Voice” chamber music performance invites you to experience the creative power of women composers. With works by Clara Schumann, Caroline Shaw, Rebecca Clarke and Australian composers Emily Sheppard and Netanela Mizrahi, experience the power of women’s voices and the human connection created through sharing their inner creative voices.
The works of each woman composer played at this performance will move and delight you, with the uniqueness of their pioneering voices, their determination to be heard and their belief in their creativity.
Featuring the Piano Trio in G Minor by Clara Schuman with NT Musicians Tara Murphy and Stephanie Arnold and guest artist Graeme Gilling, you will hear one of the great works of 19th Century Romanticism, by a woman who despite the barriers she faced, persisted to become recognised as one of the great creative voices of her time.
Supreme Court Foyer
The Deep End- Its all about the Bass
Sunday 20 November 2022
The Deep End- it's all about the Bass
Deep Dive into the deep end with Arafura Music Collective in a chamber music program which revels in bass instruments and gives them centre stage. Magnificent, flexible, lyrical, brilliant, and visceral, bass instruments are recognised as the heart, soul and rhythm of music!
We bring you fabulous music for bassoon by American composer Baldwin Maverick, for cello quartet by Australian composer Ian Grandage, Pablo Casals and more, including Vila Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No 5.
Experience the grounding rhythms of didgeridoo and bass, the magnificent Ewald quartet for Tuba and brass instruments, and the mysterious and haunting sounds of bass flute and bass clarinet. Our finale for 2022, this will be another Arafura Music Collective performance to remember.
NT Supreme Court Foyer
The Romantic Guitar Project - Adrian Walter & Bill Grose
Sunday 4 September 2022
Arafura Music Collective presents "The Romantic Guitar Project". Be immersed in the atmospheric charm of the 19th century salon. Performing on period guitars, Adrian Walter and Bill Grose (Duo Guadagnini) come together to present a special concert that will showcase the music and style of the period, when the new six string guitar first rose to prominence.
Proudly supported By CDU, Centre for Youth and Community Music
Charles Darwin University Theatre (Orange 3)
Arafura Music Collective - Creative Spark-
Sunday 17 July 2022
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NT Supreme Court Foyer
Arafura Music Collective: Arcadia Entwined- Music & Poetry
Sunday 1 May 2022
Come and join us as the sun goes down, for an early Damibila (dry season) afternoon performance of the perfect pairing of music and poetry entwined.
With music by Claude Debussy, JS Bach, Australian composers Richard Charleton, and Romano Crevici and poetry by impressionist Pierre Louys , Darwin poets Brian Devlin and Karyn Sassella and renowned poet and activist Judith Wright and you have an afternoon devoted to the joy of the senses, love and land.
Audit House Myilly Point Heritage Precinct
Arafura Music Collective - Of Stars & Birds-Women & Country
Sunday 6 March 2022
'Of Stars and Birds' by Yuwaalaraay First Nations composer Nardi Simpson has inspired the programming of chamber and vocal works to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 for the first concert of the Arafura Music Collective chamber music series 2022.
Guest Artistic Director, Brooke Green (Sydney, Australia) has curated a program of music by inspirational women composers to reflect these themes of transition and transformation and to muse on the creative impact of country.
Supreme Court Foyer
Arafura Music Collective, Darwin Rondalla- From Sea to Sea
Sunday 21 November 2021
Its the build up, time to revel in living in Darwin! Join two of Darwin’s iconic music groups Arafura Music Collective and Darwin Rondalla and experience our vibrant cultural heritage. We take you on a musical voyage crisscrossing the globe from the past to the present. From the shores of the Arafura Sea during Darwin of the 1930’s to Europe; Spain, Germany, Mexico, the Philippines, Asia and back again. You will hear the music of cultural connections, reconnections, and reinventions.
Darwin Botanic Garden Event Centre. Seating provided
Arafura Music Collective -The Secret Life of Darwin Trees
Between Sunday 16 May 2021 and Sunday 13 June 2021
Arafura Music Collective in collaboration with Larrakia Nation present" The Secret Life of Trees" .
We invite you to celebrate the life and times of Heritage Trees of Darwin with 5 pop up performances under Heritage trees of Darwin.
Each Sunday for 5 weekends through May and June pop in to a pop up concert. Spend just 45 minutes with us listening to glorious chamber music and the stories of these magnificent trees.
Enjoy your city, connect with your community, share in our heritage
Sites around Darwin city
Arafura Music Collective, Trop-House Sessions- Chamber Music
Wednesday 7 April 2021
Jon Tooby on Cello and Guest Artist Graeme Gilling on piano, will perform a stunning chamber music house concert. Included in the diverse program of Romantic music will be works of the great composers, Schumann, Brahms, and Shostakovich.
Turn up to tropical Darwin house in Rapid Creek and experience the ultimate chamber music experience! Musical experiences do not come any better, with a unique close quarters, creative synergy between the players and the audience.
Private House
Trop - House Sessions- Chamber Music in Darwin Houses
Wednesday 24 March 2021
Jon Tooby on Cello and Guest Artist Graeme Gilling on piano, will perform a stunning chamber music house concert. Included in the diverse program of Romantic music will be works of the great composers, Schumann, Brahms, and Shostakovich.
Turn up to tropical Darwin house in Rapid Creek and experience the ultimate chamber music experience! Musical experiences do not come any better, with a unique close quarters creative synergy between the players and the audience.
Private House
Arafura Music Collective-In Her Footsteps-Women Composers
Sunday 7 March 2021
Arafura Music Collective celebrates the courage and creativity of women composers across time, genre, and place. We invite you to join us on March 7, in the beautiful surrounds of the George Brown Botanical Gardens, where you will be delighted, engaged and moved by the rich intimacy of chamber music composed by women. A COVID safety plan has been created for this event. Online bookings only. This is a cashless event.
The new Event and Visitor Centre - Doors open at 4:30pm
Arafura Music Collective - Times of Change
Sunday 29 March 2020
Arafura Music Collective invite you to Times of Change. Chamber music reflections on our climate. Works include Vivaldi's Summer Concerto, Summer and Spring from Piazzolla's Four Seasons in Buenos Aires, and new works by Mizrahi, Gurruwiwi and Crevici.
Pee Wee's at the Point
Landscapes - The Music of Australian Composers
Sunday 1 December 2019
Arafura Music Collective celebrates AusMusic month and the year of Indigenous Languages with their performance of chamber music “Landscapes –The Music of Australian Composers”.
We invite you to be inspired and moved by “Port Essington” by Peter Sculthorpe, the extraordinary work “Love and Dreaming” by collaborators Netanela Mizrahi and Guwanbal Gurruwiwi, inspiring new works by Francis Diatschenko and Cathy Applegate and the bold and innovative “Echoes and Lines” by Lachlan Skipworth.
PeeWeees at the Point
Music in the Louvred Lounge
21 July 2019 5pm
Arafura Music Collective plays Piazolla, Bartok and Bollings. Chamber music featuring Adele Mammone on double bass. A collaboration with the National Trust NT.
Audit House
