Arrkula Yinbayarra SongRites
5 – 6 September 2025
In the Drama Theatre
Contemporary Music
Arrkula Yinbayarra (Together We Sing) is a powerful community-led project reviving critically endangered languages through music. Created by Marlene Timothy and co-led with 2025 Red Ochre Award winner Dr Shellie Morris AO, they will perform their debut album Waralungku live, featuring 10 original songs in four endangered Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Gudanji and Marra languages. Experience a musical voyage preserving tradition as these women honor their heritage, family and Borroloola culture.
| Date | Time |
| Friday 5 September 2025 | 7pm |
| Saturday 6 September 2025 | 7pm |
| Ticket | Price |
| Standard | $49.90 |
| Groups 4+ | $43.90 |
| Concession Australian Pensioner Australian Full Time Student | $34.90 |
$8.95 booking fee applies per transaction
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.
The only authorised ticket agency for this event is Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
Sydney Opera House Insiders pre-sale
9am, Wednesday 25 June 2025
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What’s On e-newsletter pre-sale
12pm, Wednesday 25 June 2025
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Friday 27 June 2025
In English, Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Gudanji, and Marra languages.
Wheelchair accessible:
There are a number of wheelchair and companion seating locations in our theatres. To book accessible seating contact Box Office:
Telephone
+61 2 9250 7777
(Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm AEST)
Email bookings@sydneyoperahouse.com
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House.
Run time
The duration of this event is approximately 65 minutes.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
All ages | Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy.
Eastside RadioArrkula Yinyabarra are truly inspirations for Indigenous and Australian musician, finding magical ways to encase their heritage.
Useful information:
Co-led by 2025 Red Ochre Award winner Dr Shellie Morris
Take a journey through song with Arrkula Yinbayarra (Together We Sing), a musical project born from the vision of Marlene Timothy and brought to life with the powerful voice and leadership of Dr Shellie Morris AO. Rooted in community and cultural pride, these deeply moving tracks are sung in the endangered Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Gudanji and Marra languages, tied deeply to the Gulf of Carpentaria and its people.Each song is a tribute to the strength of women and the enduring spirit of the region.
Crafted in close collaboration with language custodians and the Borroloola Songwomen, this album is more than music - it’s a living archive of culture, language and identity. From Woodford Folk Festival to Port Fairy Folk Festival to Darwin Festival, Arrkula Yinbayarra has captivated festival audiences with its emotional depth and cross-generational storytelling.
For Dr Shellie Morris AO, esteemed singer-songwriter and proud Yanyuwa woman, this project is deeply personal. Since 2008, she has worked alongside women of the Borroloola area, forging connections across language groups to form a powerful cultural song collective. Through this work, she reconnects with her own heritage while amplifying the voices of the community.
Arrkula Yinbayarra is a celebration of resilience, creativity and cultural ownership. Through rich harmonies and timeless melodies, it ensures that the region’s languages and stories of Country not only survive, but thrive.
Presented by Sydney Opera House
3 – 6 September 2025
SongRites
SongRites is a new program showcasing First Nations voices through music, dance, film and conversation. Experience the living tradition of Songlines passed through generations, grounded in Country and culture.
Meet the team
Marlene Karkadoo (Timothy)
Creator
Marlene Karkadoo (nee Timothy) is from The Rrumbarryia Clan group who are the traditional owners of Borroloola.
Marlene’s father was a senior Yanyuwa saltwater man – a dugong hunter, and her mother was from Garrwa country over to the east of Borroloola on the Queensland border. She was born on the banks of the Robinson River at Seven Emu Station in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
The stories that Marlene paints are the stories that were told to her by her parents and grandparents about life on country, and a particular focus is ceremony and song.
Marlene is the local coordinator for the annual Malandarri Dance Festival and divides her time between art-making, her coordinator role and also governance responsibilities for a number of community and council organisations.
Marlene is also a broadcaster and worked for the local radio station for 13 years before she made the move to visual arts in 2009.
Dr Shellie Morris AO
Co-leader
Proud Yanyuwa and Wardaman woman Dr Shellie Morris AO is a multi-award-winning singer/songwriter creating and singing in around 17 Australian Aboriginal languages.
While she has been in the spotlight over the years for involvement in various national and international projects, by and large, she works on the ground empowering and gently effecting change.
This year she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Kings Birthday Honours for distinguished service to the performing arts, to the Indigenous community, and to not-for-profit organisations.
She is the 2014 NT Australian of the Year, the 2014 NAIDOC National Artist of the Year, a multi Deadly Award winner and a driving force of the acclaimed album Ngambala Wiji li-Wunungu and the internationally award-winning musical documentary Prison Songs.
In April 2021, she was awarded an Honorary Award of Doctor of Music from Sydney University for her unique and ongoing work with Indigenous communities to build resilience and self- esteem through song writing and musical collaborations.
Acknowledgements
Event Sponsor
The Sydney Opera House thanks Event Sponsor Sydney Harbour Federation Trust and Idealist donors R O Albert Family and Dr Russell & Jane Kift for their generous support of SongRites.
A very special thank you to Yuwaalaraay Wirringgaa artist Lucy Simpson for the creation of our DanceRites artwork.
Plan your visit
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six minute walk to the Opera House.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. Resale restriction applies. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on +61 2 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
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