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Gurrumul at Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
Multi award winning artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu will undertake his second national concert tour in August, including two Concert Hall shows at Sydney Opera House.
Gurrumul and his collaborator/producer Michael Hohnen will present a different show for this tour which reflects the full instrumentation showcased on Gurrumul's second album Rrakala. Since its release last April, Rrakala has achieved media accolades of the highest order and top end ARIA chart positions, including debuting at number three. The album continues to capture the nation's attention and transcend cultural boundaries.
"Gurrumul and I have been talking about the best way of presenting a special concert to a larger audience and the challenges of this. On Rrakala Gurrumul plays drums, electric and acoustic guitars and grand piano. I thought it was a touching but also a more varied performance at Bluesfest in Byron recently where some 8000 people simply stood, mesmerised, and listened for the entire hour, as if we were playing in their collective lounge room. This was a show where we had some extra people play with him - he loves playing with musicians backing him up," says Michael Hohnen.
Blind from birth, Gurrumul is from the Gumatj nation, North East Arnhemland. A former member of Yothu Yindi, he has a song writing credit and ARIA for "Treaty", amongst other songs. In 2008, this enigmatic performer released his eponymous solo debut ‘Gurrumul’. The double platinum ARIA award-winning album went on to sell half a million copies world-wide.
Gurrumul is performing at Sydney Opera House 29 and 30 August 2011.