Composed in 1997,
Duration: 30 min,
Instrumentation: Symphony orchestra 3D1.2,2,2,2/4,2,3,1, recorder, timpani, perc, children’s choir and str
3 Flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), Recorder, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in B flat, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in B flat, 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (Glockenspiel, Wood Block, Triangle, Cymbals, Suspended Cymbal, Snare Drum and Bass Drum), Children’s Choir (for last movement only) and Strings. The percussion parts require four players. There is also an arrangement if no choir is available.
Level of difficulty: Medium ( AMEB grade 4 and above) – composed for a very young youth orchestra.
This work was composed for the Darwin Youth Orchestra and Centre for Youth Music singers, Northern Territory University, Darwin, Australia.
The music is in the classic orchestral tradition and consists of eight movements, each depicting an animal found in the wetlands of the Top End of Australia. The last movement, Lullaby incorporates a children’s choir. There is a short poem that is narrated before each movement.
The original performance was by the DYO, conducted by Phillip Harris at the Darwin Entertainment Centre on November 15th, 1997. It incorporated dance (Lisa Campbell’s School of Dancing), artwork and poetry. A book of illustrated poetry was published by the NTUniprint (now Charles Darwin University). The artwork consisted of collages, made from natural materials collected from the bush around Darwin, and was produced by indigenous and non-indigenous students from Kormilda College (art teacher Pam Heys). Art work on the CD disc by Maria Kraatz.
It was first performed in Darwin in November, 1997 by the DYO, and later in the same month, for the Tiwi Aboriginal people at Bathurst Island.
The work has been performed many times by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and Darwin Youth Orchestra over the years, the most recent being in 2012. The DSO recorded the work in 1999 and the DYO has also recorded the work. There are a few copies available of the CD and illustrated book of poetry. Please contact me for further information. 
I wrote this work before I had computer notation software – it was all done, including the parts, by manuscript paper and many, many pencils. I am grateful to Phil Harris who was at NTU at the time, who transcribed it for me onto computer in the following years.
The Wetlands Suite was included in a concert that was staged by the DSO as part of the Merrepen Arts Festival in June, 2001 at Nauiyu Community, Daly River. Much of the Suite was featured in an ABC documentary filmed at this event.
The Lullaby movement from the Suite has been performed independently on several occasions, the most recent being in 2012. It has also been arranged for piano and choir.
An arrangement of the excerpt, Barramundi has been made for viola and harp. This was performed in 2012.
In 1998, ‘The Wetlands Suite – Darwin Youth Orchestra’ received an Honourable Mention in the CACS National Awards for ‘An Outstanding Contribution to Australian Culture’.
Click here to hear a recording of ‘Lullaby’ on uTube