Developed in response to an invitation from the State Library of Queensland for Queensland Week 2012, The Secret History of Queensland is a presentation of songs and stories about Queensland history. These compelling tales of the past are delivered through music, song and stories, all illustrated by live sand-painting, digitally projected for audiences of all sizes and ages. The show can be performed as a theatre presentation or as an interactive, child-centred school performance.

The history of our place is carried in the personal histories of the people who live here. Using this premise, Emma Nixon and Nicole Murray began with stories gleaned from their own Queensland families, and built on these authentic experiences, presenting these intriguing stories with an equally fascinating instrumentation: they are highly accomplished musicians who accompany their singing with violin, viola and cello, a skill known as “fiddlesinging”.

The songs & stories of The Secret History of Queensland performance, are illustrated by the live creation of a stunning series of illustrations by sand-drawing on a lightbox, with images of sailing ships, historic houses, convicts, horses and riders, cleverly constructing the next image out of the remains of the last.

Venue Format
Theatre, Hall
Technical Rating
D
Touring Party
3

The Secret History of Queensland is brought to you by Wish List Productions, a Brisbane-based collaboration between musicians Emma Nixon and Nicole Murray. They are joined by cellist, Rebecca Wright.

The Secret History of Queensland is presented by three extraordinarily experienced teachers and performers. The amazing art of fiddlesinging is the focus of this collaboration between Scottish fiddler and Golden Fiddle Award winner, Emma Nixon, internationally renowned singer from Cloudstreet, Nicole Murray, and acclaimed singer and songwriter, Rebecca Wright. Their gorgeous harmony singing, accompanied by fiddle, viola and cello, brings Scottish and Australian repertoire vividly to life.

Company Website
secrethistory.com.au

Unique Selling Point

Linkages with school performances and local history groups.

Community Engagement

All three performers involved in The Secret History of Queensland are experienced workshop presenters. A range of workshop possibilities are available.

They include instrumental-playing workshops for violin players such as Scottish Fiddle Playing (Emma Nixon), Sing With Your Fiddle: An Introduction to Fiddle-Singing (Nicole Murray and Emma Nixon) and Draw Your Story on the use of illustration with sand-painting as an example.

Workshops based around fiddle-playing are of course aimed at violin players. They can be of any experience level.

Emma's workshop on Scottish Fiddle will involve information about stylistic approach, decoration and learning tunes by ear.

An introduction to Fiddle-Singing is aimed at violin or other strings players who wish to incorporate singing into their musical performance.

Draw Your Story is aimed at high-school students or a general audience. Sand-box projections will be used to demonstrate basic illustration techniques. As many participants as possible will have an opportunity to try the sandbox, while general techniques will be taught using broad-tipped markers on paper.