Ngarra-Burria | First Peoples 2025 Composers Showcase
Wednesday 15 October, 2025, Eugene Goossens Hall, Sydney, NSW
Presented by Ensemble Offspring
In a space named after one of Australia’s great composer-conductors, the next generation of composers took centre stage with stories not just of musical innovation, but of culture, resilience and presence.
This was the 2025 Ngarra-Burria: First Peoples Composers Showcase, and if you’re unfamiliar with the name, let that be the last time. Now in its ninth year, the Ngarra-Burria program has become a vital platform for First Nations composers to explore contemporary classical music on their own terms – mentored, encouraged and always connected to Country. The words ngarra (to hear, to listen) and burria (to sing) come from the Dharug language, and that ethos of deep listening and musical story-telling ran through the entire concert program tonight.
The evening opened with a Musical Acknowledgement of Country, an improvisation by all the performers: Claire Edwardes (percussion), Jason Noble (clarinets), Lamorna Nightingale (flute), Ronan Apcar (piano), and vocalists Sonya Holowell and Nicole Smede. Holowell described this approach as a way of making space “in Country, on Country, with Country, in the here and now.” Improvised acknowledgements, she explained, compel us to be present, not just ceremonially, but physically, interacting in the moment. What followed was an earthy, textured improvisation: Ronan Apcar reaching into the guts of the piano, marimba murmurs from Claire Edwardes, and vocal lines that hovered between chant and birdsong. It was moving and very grounding.
Then came Simple Truths, a solo marimba work by program mentor and founder Christopher Sainsbury, its gently shifting harmonies and final rising arpeggios offering quiet optimism and an elegant start to the program proper.
Nicole Smede, one of the current 2025 cohort, introduced her world premiere work Garan (Wings of Birds) by describing a morning ritual – sipping coffee and watching the birds pass over her home. In Indigenous cultures birds often represent messengers between land, sea, and sky, and her composition (for bass clarinet, piano and percussion) captured that liminal space with grace. Despite its title, Garan felt grounded rather than flighty: a murmuration of sounds that lifted off with solo piano and gradually built into something both dance-like and devotional. Nicole composes through singing, and the instrumental writing (tuneful, spacious, pattern-rich) seemed to retain that vocal DNA. A beautiful, contemplative piece.
From the skies to the clouds – Aaron Wyatt’s Cumulus (2022) for piano, vibraphone and bass clarinet was a richly evocative study in sonic shape-shifting. Whether storming, boiling or playfully ‘animate’, you know those kind of drifting patterns that invite our minds to find pictures in the sky? animals, faces, memories? Wyatt’s musical textures floated and spun. It was lovely to hear this piece again from a past participant, reinforcing that Ngarra-Burria isn’t just a launchpad, but a long-term community of practice.
Brenda Gifford’s Saltwater (world premiere) was another highlight with its languid clarinet lines and marimba shimmer conjuring the composer’s beloved Yuin Country in the NSW South Coast. Though Gifford wasn’t present, her voice was unmistakable – gentle and assured. For me this work presented as careful footsteps through birdsong, breeze and estuaries that seemed to breathe with salt air.
Will Kepa’s Sleepless Dreaming (2022) was a brief interlude of vibraphone, bass clarinet and piano sketching a limbo between insomnia and dream-state. Descending lines tumbled over each other, conjuring that strange hypnagogic space where thoughts are both vivid and uncatchable.
Next came two works by Troy Russell, introduced via a warm onstage interview with Apcar. In Motorways (2025), Russell found unexpected inspiration in the mental haze of long freeway drives. Percussive marimba patterns mimicked the rhythmic passing of vehicles; body percussion and sudden ruptures mirrored that lurch back into awareness when your ‘autopilot’ is jolted. The piece was witty and strange, in all the good ways.
Russell’s older work No Thoughts (2011), written during his student years, was for bass clarinet, vibraphone, flute and piano. Described by the composer as a “really about having an empty head”, it unfolded as a kind of internal musical musing, gentle and strangely relaxing.
The final two works came from current Ensemble Offspring First Nations Composer in Residence Mark Munk Ross, a hip-hop artist, breakdancer and (by his own cheeky admission) “general nuisance”. His first piece, Generations, tracked Australia’s colonial timeline from the arrival of ships to Australian shores to colonisation, the silencing of Indigenous voices via the White Australia policy, and finally to a more hopeful present, celebrating younger First Nations artists. The music moved accordingly: bowed vibraphone and misty bass clarinet giving way to punchy rhythmic clashes, before a funkier, jazz-inflected vibe took over. The mood shifted constantly, but Ross handled it with assurance – telling a big story through a tight ensemble.
Finally, Demonisation of the Ibis offered a wry, metaphorical take on how misunderstood creatures, like the much-maligned “bin chicken”, can reflect deeper societal biases. The ibis, Ross reminded us, is graceful, enduring and simply trying to survive. The bass clarinet (played with extended techniques by Jason Noble) seemed to squawk and peck, while the marimba and other instruments moved in slightly offset rhythmic patterns, reminiscent of the ibis’ poking and strutting. A surprisingly joyful way to end the concert, full of respect, humour and redemption.
Throughout the evening, we were reminded that this isn’t just about individual compositions, it’s about cultural continuity and community. The audience was warm, generous and dotted with composers past and present. Ensemble Offspring once again proved their commitment to risk-taking, mentoring and artistic excellence, with Claire Edwardes and her team performing with clarity, flair and heart.
I for one cannot wait for the tenth anniversary of Ngarra-Burria in 2026. The bridges it has built between forms, genres, stories and generations are already reshaping the future of Australian music. And we are all the richer for it.
Photo credit: Stephen Wilson Barker
