As well as playing piano for them in the past, more recently Luke has composed three significant works for GNICC and each one represents a shift in the way he writes music and/or has taken on a life well beyond its original inception.
Storm Bird from 2015 was conceived at a music camp in the Atherton Tablelands in Northern Queensland and the elemental, cinematic music he wrote was prompted by both the traditional story of Yidinji elder Gudju Gudju and the choristers Goya-esque drawings in response to this.
Buruwan Elegy was the toughest commission he’s ever been given in that he had to write a song to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Appin Massacre for a children’s choir to sing at the very location the massacre occurred, but it forced him to find a clarity of expression that means that the music communicates its meaning even with no singing.
Birinyi was his second collaboration with Gudju Gudju and a life-goal opportunity to compose for the Australian Chamber Orchestra who he’s watched and listened to for decades.
His relationship with Gondwana Choirs, Sydney Children’s Choir and artistic director Lyn Williams goes well beyond these instances, but the opportunities he has been given to compose for and with Indigenous elders and children have been a unique pleasure and privilege.
https://gondwana.org.au/
