Hidden Thoughts II Return to Sender 2020

23 July 2020 | 5 min read | cost: $20 plus $4 charge for credit card fees, streaming costs, etc (the full $20 gets passed onto the performers) | website: https://melbournedigitalconcerthall.com/

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Melbourne's longest running professional string quartet, Flinders Quartet is pleased to present the world premiere of Hidden Thoughts II: Return to Sender, a brand-new work for female voice, narrator and string quartet from renowned Australian composer Dr Katy Abbott. The concert will be performed and streamed live to homes across Australia, direct from the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall on 23rd July.

In 2013, barrister Julian Burnside AO QC asked Australians to write letters of comfort and encouragement to asylum seekers detained on Nauru. Nearly 2000 of those letters were returned unopened, marked "Return to sender".

After painstakingly reading through the letters, Abbott was inspired to write this piece as a musical response; drawing on verbatim theatre with spoken word, song and visual elements in an incredibly moving text from the extraordinary number of Australians who were compelled to reach out and connect with people they'd never met.

Performed by Flinders Quartet alongside three-time Green Room Award winner, and 2018 Helpmann Award nominee, mezzo-soprano Dimity Shepherd, the concert will be narrated by actor and performer Richard Piper (Come From Away).