Our Duty to Care

Part of series:
Changing Wilds Ensemble

Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre & Changing Wilds Ensemble

Details

A cross-disciplinary, cross-genre blend of introspective music designed to enable exploration within and beyond yourself.

Spanning the realms of Australian and Icelandic composition, Our Duty to Care is the third instalment in Robert McIntyre’s climate-change concert curations, following acclaimed performances in recent years.

In this Melbourne Recital Centre exclusive, the 2025 instalment covering themes relating to climate change, empathy, loss, hope, and more, Our Duty to Care features the music of renowned Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds alongside Australians Robert McIntyre, Laura Abraham, Anne Cawrse, and Melbourne Recital Centre’s 2024 Artist in Residence Nat Bartsch.

Featuring project ensemble Changing Wilds Ensemble, led by artistic director and composer Robert McIntyre, this curated performance in the Primrose Potter Salon blends wide-ranging genres to convey powerful messages. Centered around Robert McIntyre’s Our Duty to Care, with text by Savanna Wegman, this cross-disciplinary work for soprano voice and piano trio is based on Sharma v Minister for the Environment [2021] FCA 560. This groundbreaking environmental law case, which proved climate change to be legally real in the courts, has been the catalyst for further climate change litigation globally and even legislative action locally.

Praise for Changing Wilds Ensemble

‘Art produced in the realm of climate activism often conforms to a set script… But the overwhelming message of Our Duty to Care was one of reflection. McIntyre took an introspective tack, and was rewarded by a captivated audience.’ – classikON

Caring for Our Community

Melbourne Recital Centre is committed to the safety of our artists, staff and patrons. A range of public health and hygiene measures are currently in place. Click here to learn more.

Artists

Changing Wilds Ensemble
Robert McIntyre composer, curator, flute
Bridgette Kelsey soprano
Georgina Lewis piano
Isabel Hede violin
Stephanie Arnold cello
Savanna Wegman poet

Program

Ólafur Arnalds / Nanna
Particles

Nat Bartsch
Homecoming

Laura Abraham
A Hazy Memory

Robert McIntyre / Savanna Wegman
Every third dawn

Ólafur Arnalds / Josin
The Bottom Line

Robert McIntyre
A Sea Spray of Ash

Anne Cawrse
Time’s long ruin

Robert McIntyre / Savanna Wegman
Our Duty to Care

Ólafur Arnalds / Ella McRobb
And we’ll leave it there…

Series

This production is part of the following series: