Darwin’s Arafura Music Collective to make their debut at Sydney Opera House

Darwin-based group Arafura Music Collective will make their debut at Australia’s most iconic performance venue, bringing East Arnhem culture and song to the Sydney Opera House.

Arts Minister Jinson Charls, Claire Kilgariff, Melanie Mununggurr and Netanela Mizrahi. Darwin-based group Arafura Music Collective will take their acclaimed Stories of Water and Earth production to the Sydney Opera House in June 2025. Picture: Supplied.

Darwin-based group Arafura Music Collective will make their debut at Australia’s most iconic performance venue, bringing East Arnhem culture and song to the Sydney Opera House.

The invitation to take the acclaimed Stories of Water and Earth production to Sydney follows the production’s world premiere at Darwin Festival last year.

Created by artists Melanie Mununggurr and Netanela Mizrahi, Stories of Water and Earth is a story and musical journey of language, culture and song, weaving together instrumental chamber music, beat poetry and dreaming stories.

Images of Mununggurr’s sea, land and people from East Arnhem will be created by internationally recognised filmmaker, Naina Sen, and projected onto the giant screen at the opera house, providing an immersive experience to complement the sounds and imagery of the Northern Territory onstage.

Arts Minister Jinson Charls, Claire Kilgariff, Melanie Mununggurr and Netanela Mizrahi. Darwin-based group Arafura Music Collective will take their acclaimed Stories of Water and Earth production to the Sydney Opera House in June 2025. Picture: Supplied.

“Having my words and my story and the language of my ancestors shared within the walls of the exquisite Sydney Opera House is an enormous accomplishment,” Mununggurr said.

“I am so ecstatic and grateful to collaborate and share the stage with the beautiful and inspiringly talented musicians from Arafura Music Collective and Ensemble Offspring, and deeply appreciate the support from the NT government.”

The Territory government is supporting the visual production and the group’s travel through a $27,000 investment from the Arts Grant Program, which helps explore, develop and profile arts and culture in the Territory.

Arts Minister Jinson Charls said the production highlighted the depth and diversity of the Territory’s creative talent.

“To see a Northern Territory story told at the Sydney Opera House is a moment of celebration, not only for these talented artists, but for our arts sector as a whole,” he said.

Stories of Water and Earth will be performed at the Sydney Opera House on June 25 and 26.

Originally published as Darwin’s Arafura Music Collective to make their debut at Sydney Opera House