First Nations Choir Marliya Will Make Their UK Debut

Marliya will perform for its first international audience when its Cairns-based performers head to London this October to perform Spinifex Gum at the prestigious Barbican Centre.

This will be a landmark event, bringing the powerful and poignant voices of Indigenous Australian youth to one of the world's most prestigious cultural venues.

The 16 girls and young women of Marliya will be joined by another three dozen young choristers from Australia’s national children’s choir Gondwana Voices - as well as the local Farnham Youth Choir and Royal Scottish National Orchestra Youth Chorus.

This ground-breaking concert event will not only showcase and amplify the stories and artistry of these young performers, but also foster greater cultural understanding and appreciation on an international stage.

Part protest, part celebration, Spinifex Gum is an all-singing, all-dancing Australian festival show created by Felix Riebl (The Cat Empire), featuring the all-female ensemble, Marliya – a group of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander singers, conducted by Lyn Williams and choreographed by Deborah Brown.

With original music and lyrics, choreography and design, Spinifex Gum confronts the challenging political and environmental issues facing contemporary Australia: social disparity, land rights, disproportionate incarceration, and deaths in custody. In both English and First Nations languages, Marliya disarms and inspires us in a way that no individual voice can.

Since its premiere in Adelaide in 2018, Spinifex Gum has been performed at every major Australian arts festival. Equally at home on the concert and festival stage, the show has received repeat invitations to Byron Bay BluesFest and the Woodford Folk Festival and, in 2019, toured nationally from the Garma Festival in Central Australia to Parliament House in Canberra. As a result, it received a nomination for Best New Australian Work in the Helpmann Awards.

In 2022, Spinifex Gum took on a new dimension, with the creation of a symphonic version. with orchestrations by Ross Irwin. This version was premiered by Marliya with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with subsequent performances by the Adelaide and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.

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