A deep crimson-red sky marbled with purple scudding clouds racing in the outback winds is the incredible backdrop for an inspirational evening of opera. For Dark Sky Serenade, the stage is set for an unforgettable night high on top of a huge mesa plateau – The Jump-Up, in the Western Queensland outback at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs.

Banjo, a bipedal Megaraptor (Australoventor), and Matilda, a massive quadrupedal Titanosaur (Diamantinasaurus), peek around the stage under the vast Australian sky. During the Cultural Conversations at Winton’s iconic North Gregory Hotel, Opera Queensland CEO and Artistic Director Patrick Nolan described how the concert had been fashioned to highlight the relationship between the landscape and music.

Dark Sky Serenade. Photo © Omar Nolan Photography

Renowned Australian composer and Darwin Symphony Orchestra’s new Artistic Director and conductor, Richard Mills, characterises the outback as a repository of myths and the Dreamtime. As opera describes our experiences as humans through stories, opera in the outback speaks to everyone through the landscape, especially in Winton, on the land of the Koa people. 

Five soloists, pianist Narelle...