The West Australian Opera and award-winning singer-songwriters Gina Williams AM and Guy Ghouse have announced this week they will be collaborating on a new soundtrack for this year's Joondalup Festival.
Produced with acclaimed Noongar singer, songwriter and producer Boox Kid, Joondalup Warangka (Joondalup Song) speaks to the significance of Lake Joondalup in Noongar culture and history.
The song features stories crowdsourced from the local community, with residents invited to share their personal experiences and connection to Lake Joondalup with the artists in late 2024.
Commissioned by Joondalup Festival, the song will be played at the Neil Hawkins Park jetty every day throughout Joondalup Festival, allowing visitors to enjoy the soundscape as they look out into the lake which inspired the song.
Joondalup mayor Albert Jacob said the project acts as a time capsule, designed to showcase the magic of Lake Joondalup in the present day.
"Joondalup Warangka is a legacy project that will live beyond Joondalup Festival, capturing a moment in time with a sense of place that will be treasured for generations to come. We are excited to unveil this powerful song to our community that pays homage to the rich Noongar heritage of this region and the City's biggest natural wonder," he said.
Artist Gina Williams AM said she and Guy Ghouse were honoured to collaborate with West Australian Opera and Boox Kid on this new project.
"Lake Yellagonga is a place which has held such a special place in the hearts of Noongar people for thousands of generations. This work is a love letter to country, to community, to our past and our future. It is for those who want to call this place home in a beautiful new way," she said.
"Noongars understood the magic of this place. Even today, if you sit and close your eyes, you can sense the vibrations as this beautiful lake remains a gathering space for us to gather to picnic and enjoy its sanctuary in a modern context.
"The song we have composed, we hope, captures the spirit and magic of this place. And if you stop and listen you might hear the chant of our ancestors, or the soft padding of feet dancing in the sand. To us, this is a modern Dreaming song in broad daylight."
West Australian Opera's executive director, Carolyn Chard AM, said the Opera has loved working with the artists.
"We love working with our long time collaborators Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse, this time on Joondalup Warangka," she said.
"We have recently collaborated on two Noongar language works, Koolbardi wer Wardong and Wundig wer Wilura; which Boox Kid also performed in. At West Australian Opera we aim to move people through song; and we hope audiences will be moved by the song which represents Joondalup residents and captures the spirit of community woven into the incredible work by Gina, Guy and Boox Kid."
The song will be available for download and the musical score and lyrics will be available free of charge to all wishing
Set to take place from the 15th of March - 5th of April 2025, the festival is known as a significant community event to deliver accessible, world-class cultural performances from across the state and country. In 2023, Joondalup Festival was named best cultural, arts and music event by the Australian Event Awards.
Joondalup Festival 2025 is supported by the WA State Government through Tourism Western Australia's Metro Events Program, Lotterywest, and Hillarys Boat Harbour.
Joondalup Festival is returning to the city from 15 March – 5 April 2025.
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