A song featured in the show is inspired by a Goulburn Valley local.
Songs inspired by the real lives of seniors in the LGBTIQ+ community will provide “a few laughs, a few tears, and a great tune to hum in the shower” at Shepparton Brewery.
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Homophonic! and The Consort of Melbourne will return to the city with the Respect project on on July 19.
Artistic director Miranda Hill says all the pieces in the Respect project were inspired by locals from regional Victoria and Tasmania.
“They bring to light the stories of people who survived and thrived, often in circumstances that forced their lives to be secretive, if not actively illegal, to love who they loved,” Ms Hill said.
Featured is a song inspired by Goulburn Valley local Jenni, titled Swerve, with music by Meta Cohen and text by Leona Cohen, which was a finalist for ‘Work of the Year’ at the APRA/AMCOS Art Music Awards.
It also includes Robbie’s Daydream, written by Kym Dillon (seen on ABC’s The Piano), which sees retired fighter pilot Robbie’s adventurous life sung out loud and proud.
Ms Hill said the show was for everyone, not just members of the LGBTIQ+ community, whether they were into classical music or not quite sure if it was their thing.
“The music is lively and emotive and performed by world class performers who love what they do,” she said.
“The Consort of Melbourne, Melbourne's premiere vocal ensemble, and our string quintet, are the sort of world-class performers you normally have to pay big bucks to see in major concert halls, and here they are at the Shepparton Brewery.”
Ms Hill said the group loved performing in Shepparton and had performed in the city four times in the past few years, including last year at the Shepparton Festival with its show Moonlite.
“Touring regionally is such an important thing to do, making sure that all the best parts of the city can be enjoyed by GV locals, who I envy because you also get those big skies and amazing views,” she said.
“The Respect project is my favourite — it’s all of our favourites — we cry a bit every time these works are performed.
“The connections between the composers, performers and the members of community being honoured is something truly precious and I’m so grateful for it every day.”
Homophonic! will give people “a few laughs, a few tears and a great tune to hum in the shower”.
Ms Hill said it was an honour to take part in maintaining the aural history of LGBTIQ+ people in regional Victoria.
“Both to remember our own history and appreciate how far we’ve come, but how far we've still got to go ... but also to celebrate these everyday icons and show our appreciation for their strength and community that has allowed us to live so openly and freely today.”
She said queer cultural history wasn’t passed down around multi-generational dinner tables in the same way other cultural history often was.
“It’s on us to span generations and document our very real, sometimes messy, lives,” she said.
Homophonic! will be performed from 3pm to 4pm on Sunday, July 19, at Shepparton Brewery.
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