Music and Choirs 1990-2023

Choirs directed by Bronwyn Calcutt – **Strong with the Women choir,** Darwin 1990, **Shaking the Tree** at the 2008 Kingfisher Festival, **Shaking the Tree** filming The Battle of Evermore 2015

My history as founder and director of community choirs reaches back to 1990 when Robyn Archer invited me to be Musical Director of the Strong with the Women project for the Trade and Labour Council’s Mayday celebrations in Darwin. This was to be a celebration of women’s contribution to the history of the territory and we gathered a large group of women from the community to sing narratives and songs throughout the performance.

From these beginnings I continued to create and nurture choirs in the NT, Maleny QLD and finally in Melbourne where I settled in 1995 – initially to work with Kavisha Mazzella and Judy Small on The Three Shielas album.

Putting down roots in Melbourne led to the formation of two very different community choirs –Shaking the Tree in 1999, and Expressive Women in 2000, both of which have evolved and thrived to this day.

Albums

Shaking the Tree choir 1999-now

**Shaking the Tree in 2019**. Photo by Peter Casamento.

From its earliest years Shaking the Tree Choir evolved as a group who wished to use their combined voices for social and environmental justice, equality and freedom. Our name was taken from the song by Peter Gabriel and Yousson D’our advocating for the women of Africa to rise up and stand in their power. Other songs were drawn from the Civil Rights Movement and movements for climate action. Affiliated with the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, we sang at rallies and in detention centres. Partnering with the Bob Brown Foundation, the group travelled to the Tasmanian Tarkine wilderness and developed songs and clips to advocate for its protection. At its heart, the choir is a community united by a love of singing and a belief in the power of song to enhance our own and society’s well-being.

Shaking the Tree at The Kingfisher Festival 2000 -Ceres Environment Centre.

Activism: Shaking the Tree at rallies and benefit concerts.

Tarkine in Motion 2017 – a Bob Brown Foundation project gathering artists to advocate for protection of the Tarkine from logging and a world heritage listing for permanent preservation.

Singing songs of sorrow in the felled coops.

Taking to the streets in Melbourne.

20th Birthday celebration & launch of Roots Grown Deep, Northcote Town Hall 2019.

The Battle of Evermore clip – Northcote Uniting Church & Darebin Parklands 2017

Filmed by Leo Dale. Directed by Bronwyn Calcutt.

Expressive Women choir 2000-now

Bronwyn Calcutt –**Expressive Women in Full Flight 2018** Oil on canvas 70x50cm

Expressive Women was first formed with funding by Darebin Community Health to give women in the community who were experiencing isolation a chance to find a creative space in which to connect. It was a safe place to explore one’s voice and share stories, and this was reflected in unique and courageous performances on diverse issues of identity and well-being. Evolving in 2004 into an independent group directed by Bronwyn Calcutt, it has retained its special status as a place to honour female songwriters and female experience.

The many faces of Expressive Women.