Maroochy Barambah is an Australian Aboriginal

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

singer. She is a song-woman, law-woman and elder of the

Turrbal The Turrbal are an Aboriginal Australian people from the region of present-day Brisbane, Queensland. The name primarily referred to the dialect they spoke, the tribe itself being alternatively called ''Mianjin/Meanjin''. Mianjin was the Turrbal ...

people.

Early life

She was born Yvette Isaacs in the 1950s in

Cherbourg, Queensland Cherbourg (), formerly known as Barambah, Barambah Aboriginal Settlement and Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement, is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Cherbourg, Queensland, Australia. In the , ...

. She is of the

-Gubbi Gubbi people and is a member of the

Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...

. She considers herself a beneficiary of her removal. As a tribute to her Aboriginality she took the names Maroochy (meaning "black swan") and Barambah (meaning "source of the western wind").

Career

Maroochy Barambah rose to fame for her part in the 1989 Sydney Metropolitan Opera production of ''Black River'', by

Julianne Schultz Julianne Schultz AM FAHA (born 1956) is an Australian academic, media manager, author and editor. She was the founding editor of the Australian literary and current affairs journal ''Griffith Review''. She is currently a professor at Griffith U ...

and

Andrew Schultz Andrew Schultz (born 18 August 1960 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an acclaimed Australian classical composer. A musician with a large and widely performed output and an international sphere of activity he has, since 2008, lived in Sydney, New ...

, an opera about black deaths in custody, and later starring in the 1993 film adaption which was awarded the Grand-Prix, Opera Screen at Opera Bastille, Paris. She also has appeared in the indigenous musical ''

Bran Nue Dae __NOTOC__ ''Bran Nue Dae'' is a 1990 musical set in Broome, Western Australia, that tells stories and of issues relating to Indigenous Australians. It was written by Jimmy Chi and his band Kuckles and friends, and was the first Aboriginal Austra ...

'', the 1981 television series ''

Women of the Sun ''Women of the Sun'' is an Australian historical drama television miniseries that was broadcast on SBS Television and later the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1981. The series, co-written by Sonia Borg and Hyllus Maris, was composed of four ...

'' and in the opera '' Beach Dreaming'' (written for and about her by

Mark Isaacs Mark Isaacs (born 22 June 1958, London) is an Australian classical and jazz composer and pianist. Isaacs has also composed and conducted music for film, television and the theatre, as well as writing songs, including lyrics. Discography Fi ...

). She has released two singles, one of which, "Aborigine", reached the top 10 on the U.S.

Billboard Dance chart Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

. She performed at the

1993 AFL Grand Final The 1993 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 1993. It was the 97th annual grand final of ...

, singing

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...

and

Advance Australia Fair "Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish people, Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, sung in Australia as a patriotic song. It first replaced "God Save the ...

. Her performance was criticized by many as she sang out of tune and missed an entire verse. Maroochy's translation of

into Turrubul, the native language of the Aborigines of the Brisbane region, was performed at the 2013 Indigenous All Stars Rugby League match at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, on 9 February 2013. On 15 November 2014, Maroochy featured in the Welcome to Country ceremony at the formal opening of the

2014 G-20 Australia Summit The 2014 G20 Brisbane summit was the ninth meeting of the G20 heads of government/heads of state.

, held in Brisbane, Australia, performing in front of national leaders and international dignitaries.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Appears on

*''

Women of the sun ''Women of the Sun'' is an Australian historical drama television miniseries that was broadcast on SBS Television and later the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1981. The series, co-written by Sonia Borg and Hyllus Maris, was composed of four ...

'' (1981) miniseries *'' Black River'' (1997) soundtrack - MusicArtsDance Films

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barambah, Maroochy 1950s births Living people Indigenous Australian musicians Australian mezzo-sopranos 20th-century Australian women opera singers Members of the Stolen Generations Operatic mezzo-sopranos