The Letter String Quartet collaborate with revered musician Richard J Frankland to present Songs and Stories at Melbourne Recital Centre on July 6 as part of NAIDOC Week 2017.
Richard J Frankland is a proud Gunditjmara man. An author, playwright, film maker, activist, academic and musician, Richard is a remarkable storyteller, and in this very special evening he will share the stage with The Letter String Quartet to present songs and stories from his extraordinary life.
Richard and TLSQ’s violist and artistic director Biddy Connor have collaborated together over the past year. For this concert, they have composed new songs, reimagined Richard’s back catalogue for strings and voices, and set his stories to music.
Biddy is a highly acclaimed composer, musician and musical director. She has worked with Mick Harvey, Laura Jean, Tim Finn, John Cale and Jen Cloher.
The Letter String Quartet has a growing reputation for delivering astonishing concerts of wild and moving new music. All members of the quartet sing and play, and TLSQ commission composers to create new works that extend the boundaries of the classical quartet form. Part-quartet, part-experimental band, the quartet thrills its audiences with innovative programming and exquisite repertoire.
“The string quartet form becomes a true vehicle for exploration at the hands of The Letter String Quartet… As innovative as the group is entrancing…”
– our very own Lewis Ingham, CutCommon review, May 2017.
NAIDOC Week (July 2-9) celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This year’s theme – Our Languages Matter – aims to emphasise and celebrate the unique and essential role that Indigenous languages play in cultural identity, linking people to their land and water and in the transmission of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, spirituality and rites, through story and song.
Songs and Stories takes place at the Melbourne Recital Centre, 6pm July 6. Learn more about The Letter String Quartet.
