Waltz for a Sky Queen, a dual cycle musical story suite, featuring the premiere of Driftwood and Feather, as well as a repeat performance of When Birds Take Flight will be performed on December 1 at the Denmark Civic Centre, with tickets available through TryBooking from Monday 14 October.

Rendered in unique blends of contemporary, jazz and classical harmonies, Waltz for a Sky Queen, will be brought to life by Woven Women’s Vocal Ensemble and Swing Into Sing children. They will be accompanied by Louise on piano and an invited contemporary instrumental line-up, including Grant Moulden, double bass, Sam Reeves, classical guitar, Nola Formentin, trombone and percussion, Mark Gretton, drums and Amanda Reynolds, cello. Of special note is the involvement of artist Jenny Wilson in our set design, featuring work from her recent Great Southern Art Trail Exhibition at the Denmark Visitor Centre. David Nile and John Dodd’s expertise offer exciting lighting and sound dimensions to the whole experience.

The whole production has been two years in the making. Denmark Festival of Voice 2023 saw us performing four songs from the early development phase of When Birds Take Flight, an original story and song cycle, honouring migratory shorebirds on their perilous flight from Denmark’s Djerrt Mia to Siberia and back. Composed by Louise, with poetic contributions by Jen, these original songs evolved into an eleven-piece suite performed to a full capacity audience in February 2024 at Golden Hill Denmark. Currently in rehearsal Driftwood and Feather, another multi-piece creation portraying the unique journeys of diverse birds across the world, draws on the culturally rich musical traditions of the lands they traverse and call home.

Woven Women’s Vocal Ensemble originally came together for our first music project, Wild Flower, Wild Woman. Composed by Louise, interpreting a poem written by Jen, this piece was performed at the launch of the Leech-Partington Botanical Art Prize in 2021, honouring the life of Penny Leech, a gifted botanical and natural history artist.

Our growing vocal repertoire, includes solo and ensemble arrangements and a range of creative performance and style opportunities. Partnered with a collaborative and nurturing rehearsal schedule, ongoing projects provide growth and skill opportunities for a wonderful community of local women singers of varying ages, backgrounds and performance experience, as well as newly emerging child performers. We also create employment opportunities for artists, professional musicians and sound and lighting specialists.

Drawing on the power of music and art to open our hearts and minds to our deep relationship with and responsibility to the natural world, our recent works give voice to the migratory birds who are increasingly at risk of extinction from human development, environmental devastation and loss of habitat.