Yorta Yorta Dja Dja Wurrung composer, performer, arts administrator and academic Dr Lou Bennett first came to fame as a member of the internationally acclaimed music trio Tiddas. Bennett was also one of the co-founders of the Black Arm Band, as as their Artistic Director and Co-CEO was a major force in establishing the ensemble as a major performing arts company.

In recent years Bennett has been collaborating with classical musicians, with her work Jaara Nyilamum coming out of the Australian String Quartet’s Quartet & Country project, in conjunction with the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and its then-Artistic Director Iain Grandage, UKARIA and the ASQ.

Her latest work, nyerrnur, nyarkur – to hear, to see, was commissioned by Omega Ensemble for their 2021 season, but COVID delayed its premiere. Now, finally, audiences will get to hear it in the ensemble’s upcoming tour.

Dr Lou Bennett

Dr Lou Bennett. Image supplied.

Many of our readers would remember you from Tiddas. What do you see as the main differences between the music you were making then and the music you are making now? Are there any similarities?

The most fundamental differences are the...