Q&A: Deborah Cheetham, soprano and composer, 55

Soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham on discovering opera, being stolen as a baby and why Australia needs an new national anthem.

Deborah Cheetham. Picture: Julian Kingma

You’ve composed a musical acknowledgment of country. Why sing it? Spoken acknowledgment of country is very important, but it has become a bit formulaic: everybody says the same thing. I have written sung versions for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and for the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. It makes sense, because song was the language of diplomacy for indigenous people.

What is the Sydney version called? Tarimi nulay, which means “Long time living here”; I collaborated on the Gadigal translation with Matthew Doyle. It’s an a cappella piece and has its premiere on the steps of Sydney Opera House tomorrow (January 19).

When did you discover your passion for social justice? I had wonderful mentors at Penshurst Girls High School in Sydney who encouraged me to channel my energy for argument into the debating team. It began in those formative years.

Which issues motivated you? In the early 1980s we thought someone was going to press the nuclear button and we didn’t have much say about this; it was a kind of powerlessness. At that stage I didn’t know about the 60,000 years of my ancestors; I didn’t know that I was part of the stolen generations.

Tell us that story… I was taken from my mother, Monica Little, at three weeks of age. The parents who adopted me were not told I’d been taken; they were falsely told I’d been abandoned. When I was in my 20s I was performing on stage in Canberra and there was an Aboriginal woman sitting in the audience who could have been my twin. After the show we met up and I discovered that she was my cousin.

You were also a tennis champion, right? I had a fabulous coach, Bill Gilmour, in Caringbah. They produced quite a few champions in the day. I didn’t stay long enough to reach the very heights, but I did OK in junior doubles. My partner and I were at one stage the under-14 doubles champions of NSW.

When did you discover opera? In 1979, on a school trip to the Sydney Opera House to see The Merry Widow with Dame Joan Sutherland. The moment the music began, I fell in love. I sat there wondering where this had been all my life.

You say you started composing out of necessity. Why? There is no reason why Aboriginal people should not be represented in classical music. We weren’t represented in opera, we’re still not represented in orchestras, and I decided that I would do something about that.

Which of your compositions are you most proud of? In October we celebrate the 10th anniversary of my opera Pecan Summer; it is still Australia’s only indigenous opera. And in July the West Australian Symphony Orchestra is performing Eumeralla: A War Requiem for Peace, about the resistance war fought by the Gunditjmara people of southwest Victoria. It’s an opportunity for people to come together through music to develop an understanding, one that we’ve wanted for so long.

Does Australia need a new national anthem? Absolutely. I can’t sing “young and free”. There’s nothing young about this nation, and we are not free of the ignorance and racism that has been so debilitating. Let’s write an anthem that talks about what we have achieved as a nation.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs perform an hour of a cappella music in Dawn Chorus, Sydney Opera House steps from 5.30am tomorrow, January 19 (free event)