In 1616, the same year that Shakespeare died, Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog in his ship Eendracht (the Concord) landed off the coast of Shark Bay and became the first European to leave a record of his visit to the Australian Continent.

Word of his voyage encouraged further navigation, and ultimately led to a shared history described by Tim Flannery as neither a simple tale of European triumph and possession or just “a kind of abomination – the penetration of a fragile continent”. The Concord of Strangers contrasts Renaissance music from Hartog’s musical DNA in the Low Countries with the sounds of Australia old and new.

A sea of polyphony from the earlier generations of composers from the Low Countries

A soundscape of contemporary and Indigenous Australian work – from The Song Company’s Call for Audio

A selection of chansons, madrigals, and motets by Sweelinck from his Rimes francaises et italiennes (1612) and Cantiones Sacrae (1619)

Canberra Saturday 3rd September, 6.00pm Wesley Uniting Church
Newcastle Thursday 1st September, 7.00pm Newcastle Conservatorium
Wollongong Sunday 4th September, 3.00pm Wollongong ART Gallery
Sydney Friday 9th September, 7.30pm Utzon Room Sydney Opera House
Sydney Saturday 10th September, 3.00pm Utzon Room Sydney Opera House