Following the devastating bushfires and floods that wreaked havoc on regional communities across the country in 2019-2020, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra launched Floods of Fire, a series of collaborative compositional developments bringing together community members to work through the effects of those events on their lives.

The ASO’s community-building, collaborative project has enabled Bundjalung man Grayson Rotumah to produce a new musical composition, Creation, which tells the story of the Bundjalung nation of south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales.

Frm left: Grayson Rotumah, Rulla Kelly-Mansell, Robert Taylor and Corey Theatre. Photo © Claudio Raschella

Creation goes beyond the initial conception of Floods of Fire. Rotumah says it “reflects Bundjalung history and culture through the re-imagining of creation stories, spiritual, mission and massacre songs… This work [is] centred on a fire because the symbolism of fire resonates through all communities and cultures. Fire is survival, and is central to cultural practice, it’s destruction, war — and even song.”

The premiere performance of Creation featured a five-piece all-Indigenous ensemble comprising Rotumah on guitar and voice; Robert Taylor (Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri and Narrung) on yidaki; singer songwriter Corey Theatre (Gunditjmara-Belgian), guitar and voice;...