As I was reading the Guardian today, I unexpectedly came across an article on Aboriginal Opera singer, Deborah Cheetham. Cheetham is an accomplished opera singer who has performed across Australia and at major events such as the opening ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics and the rugby World Cup. She is believed to be the only professional opera singer of Australian Aboriginal descent.

The article notes that Cheetham was frustrated by the lack of Aboriginal voices in opera so she decided to write an opera for and about Aboriginal communities. Opening in 2010, Pecan Summer has been successful across Australia. The opera tells the story of the 1939 Cummeragunja mission ‘walk off’ where 200 Aboriginal peoples living in the Cummeragunja mission left the mission in protest of the poor living conditions and strict control. The seemingly simple step of walking away from the mission is an important step in the struggle for Aboriginal rights.

I was also interested to see in this article that Cheetham is part of Australia’s Stolen Generations. She was adopted at three weeks old and later told that her birth mother had abandoned her in a box in a field. It wasn’t until she was 22 that she discovered that she wasn’t abandoned and that she was able to find her birth mother.

I find this article very intriguing as it’s current, related to the topic that I am researching (Stolen Generations) and so interesting to see an Aboriginal woman bringing Aboriginal people and stories to opera.