Perth Voice Interactive

A UNIQUE concert dedicated to Australia’s birdlife will raise funds for the Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre in Perth.

Where Song Began is the brainchild of the Bowerbird Collective, a classical duo who perform music inspired by birdlife and raise awareness of conservation and environmental issues.

At Where Song Began they will play pieces from four different centuries including classics by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer and JS Bach and more contemporary works by Arvo Pärt and a new commission by David Lang called Anthochaera carunculata (Red Wattle Bird).

One half of the Bowerbird Collective, cellist Anthony Albrecht, says the concert traces the ancient story of Australia and its songbird evolution.

“One of our favourite musical moments in the show is when we perform Ross Edwards’ Ecstatic Dance No 2 to accompany a vivid green flock of murmurating budgerigars in the Great Sandy Desert,” says Albrecht, who was Australia’s first graduate of The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program.

The concert is a bit of a personal affair; raising money for the Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre, where Albrecht’s uncle Tom volunteers.

Situated in Banyowla Regional Park in the Perth Hills, the Centre is the only dedicated black cockatoo sanctuary in the world.

As well as looking after the endangered birds, centre volunteers restore the local habit, providing black cockatoos with nesting, foraging and roosting sites that have been lost to urban sprawl in recent decades.  

Albrecht says he is looking forward to a tour of the Centre with his uncle on Sunday.

“We have previously supported BirdLife Australia with donations from many of our concerts, tours and digital projects, and have raised more than $120,000 for our conservation partners,” Albrecht says.

In 2022 the Bowerbird Collective released the album Songs of Disappearance, which featured the calls of threatened birds, frogs and mammals.

It was a huge success and reached the top of the ARIA album charts ahead of pop megastars Adele, ABBA and Ed Sheeran, prompting an extensive concert tour that helped raise awareness of threatened species in Australia. 

But the Collective are not resting on their laurels and last year launched two regional festivals – the Moonbird Festival on King Island and the Lyrebird Festival in the Megalong Valley.

“It brings together art and conservation to celebrate two of the most spectacular places in Australia,” Albrecht says.

“That same year we also premiered a major new multimedia work in South Australia with Kaurna collaborators telling the story of the seasons from the Kaurna perspective, and earlier this year we toured the USA with a new project about North American bird migration.”

Right now Albrecht and the other half of Bowerbird Collective, Simone Slattery on violin, are getting ready to perform Where Song Began at Government House Ballroom in Perth on Sunday July 21 at 3pm.

A collaboration with BirdLife WA, the 50-minute concert is accompanied by stunning projections of nature and birdlife, and is followed by a Q&A. Tix at humanitix.com/au.

By STEPHEN POLLOCK