EM Forster’s famous precept “Only connect” came to mind when Paul Grabowsky gave the Sydney premiere of his collaborative composition Wata: A Gathering for Manikay Performers, Improvising Soloists and Orchestra in a one-off concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Northey.

The work, born out of Grabowsky’s 20-year association with the Wilfred clan from Ngukurr in south-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, was first performed in 2021 by singer Daniel Wilfred and his uncle and manager David on yidaki (didgeridoo) and members of the Australian Art Orchestra with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra when Grabowsky was its composer in residence. This latest performance marked Grabowsky’s debut with the SSO.

“It’s a big cycle about life and regeneration,” the multi-faceted composer-performer explains. “It’s not easily comparable to anything.”

Sydney Symphony Orchestra: Wata. Photo © Jordan Munns

Wata means wind, but also purifying smoke, and manikay are song cycles of poetic invocations of time and place for public ceremonial events. The songs, sung in the Yolngu languages, are “miniature maps of the universe” that highlight the interconnectedness of things using some of the oldest music in the world.

The seven-part suite covers the...