Melbourne’s Alta Collective will premiere a world-first choral arrangement of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s acclaimed song cycle Penelope this October, bringing new theatricality and emotional depth to the modern reimagining of Homer’s epic.

A soldier returns after twenty years away in an unnamed war. But neither he nor his wife are who they once were. Stepping into myth and modernity, Penelope explores war, memory and the unravelling of love. Through Ellen McLaughlin’s evocative libretto and Snider’s haunting score, fragments of The Odyssey collide with folk, indie-rock and classical sound worlds to reveal a story that is both ancient and startlingly relevant.

In a new choral arrangement by Melbourne composer and conductor Juliana Kay, the work expands into layers of harmony and movement. The bold voices of Alta Collective join forces with a string ensemble, percussion, electronics and three renowned children’s choirs.