The State We're In, 3 March 2012. An Aboriginal soprano decides to write an opera for her people - and discovers her own family history. A composer travels to Cyprus and Palestine to unite broken communities with music, and one of TSWI’s producers rediscovers her Spanish roots - a little too late.
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Deborah Cheetham is one of Australia’s most celebrated opera singers.
She’s also Aboriginal, and wrote an opera featuring an Aboriginal cast.
While researching the opera, Deborah - who as a member of the "Stolen Generations" was taken from her mother when she was a baby - finally got to fill in the missing pieces about her own family history. View photos.
Deborah describes how the premier of her opera, Pecan Summer, went over with an Aboriginal audience in Australia.
Merlijn Twaalfhoven in Amsterdam is a composer without a concert hall.
He performs instead in areas of conflict - including the West Bank barrier in Palestine and the dividing wall in Cyprus. View photos.
The cities’ residents are his orchestra, and household items are their instruments.
Together, they create music to inspire peace and unite people - if only for as long as the music lasts.
Check out more of Merlijn’s projects here.
Trailer for "Cyprus: Echoes Across the Divide"
TSWI producer Belinda Lopez is, as you’d guess from her surname, of Spanish ancestry. Read a transcript of Belinda's essay.
But she had little interest in learning Spanish while growing up in Australia – until she learned that her "yayo" (grandfather) lived through the Spanish Civil War.
Then she wanted to get his stories firsthand, in his language.
So she travelled to Spain and Latin America, and became fluent. But then she got a call to return home: her yayo was dying.
Susan Cheyne makes her "office" in the muddy forests of Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The Scottish primatologist studies gibbons and their sensational songs. View photos.
The male-female duets are for her a symbol of domestic harmony, and make the forest feel like home to her.
Susan’s organisation, the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project, is looking for volunteers!
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This is absolutely fabulous. Deborah Cheetah tells her story with such grace and clarity. Pecan Summer's creative process and her life process in birthing it, is inspiring to anyone wanting to speak their stories.
a very moving story. thank you. do some more for npr. wbez in chicago, IL
I loved every piece on today's show - thank you very much! I was most moved by Deborah Cheetham's life story and the sounds of her beautiful "Summer Pecan" opera. Wow! Talk about making lemonade from a lemony strange and tough start in life! I was transfixed by her story. Thank you for making it available to all of us!
What lovely words, Doria. Where do you listen to the show?
Belinda,
Loved your story about your Spanish and your grandpa.
Yes, 2nd languages Down Under do have a low priority, but the culture and the love and relationships that your languages bring to you, proves that multilingualism brings a gift that broadens perspective and creates a sense of belonging beyond that of merely being 'at home'. Congratulations and thanks for such a personal story.
Hi Tim, Great to hear from a fellow Aussie!
Absolutely agree- although it took me until adulthood- and a bit of international travel- to appreciate that fact. Traveling to Spain for the first time as an adult, I could finally recognise the elements of my childhood that had been quintessentially Spanish, despite growing up in Australia. And I could finally appreciate the 'gift', as you put it, of an Australian childhood: the mix of several cultures.
Maybe that's why Australians enjoy traveling so much. When you've grown up in a cultural archipeligo, everywhere feels a little 'like home'.
I really enjoyed the story last week of the first African-American paratroopers in WWII. This week I enjoyed all the stories, especially Ms. Cheetham. Her story struck a cord with me as I am a University of Louisville graduate. We have two young women on our Division I basketball team who are the first Native Americans to receive full athletic scholarships at that level. I look forward to following your programming each week. I listen to you on WFPL in Louisville, Kentucky (Home of the Kentucky Derby). Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Janice. We really appreciate your thoughts. I wonder if you should tell Todd Mundt, the director of WFPL, who took a chance on running us in our earlier stages when he was back in Iowa. Thanks so much again.
Hi Ed: Thanks so much! That's great to hear. Let KUOW know the good news -- we've had a lot of luck with listeners in Seattle. All the best.
First time listener...LOVED IT!!!!!!! Thanks and look forward to hearing you again on KUOW, Seattle, Washington.
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