Ahead of 2025's NAIDOC Week celebrations, Yuin musicians Ron Callaghan and Kyarna-Rose will perform at the free Music and Tea concert at Wollongong Art Gallery tomorrow morning, July 3.
“Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait storytellers have a story to tell and I think it’s really important that our voices are amplified in a way that traditional stories are amplified, because we all have these incredible stories to tell,” Kyarna says.
To mark NAIDOC Week (July 6-13), Kyarna and Ron will share songs and stories to honour the strength, resilience and creativity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Ron is a proud Walbunja and Dhungutti man whose music fuses country rock and Koori blues with a focus on life, family and culture.
“Music runs in the family but I didn’t actually pick up an instrument until I was 20 – and now I’ve been doing music for 47 years,” Ron says.
Ron epitomises this year’s NAIDOC theme, ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy’. Well respected in his community and beyond, Ron now helps mentor young First Nations musicians on the South Coast.
“I’m really stoked to be asked to come and do this gig," he says. "It looks like a really important event, so I’m really honoured to be invited to come and play along with Kyarna-Rose.”
Kyarna grew up on Dharawal-speaking Country, writing poetry as a teenager and evolving as a musician.
“I wanted to be able to tell my own stories,” Kyarna says.
A regular performer at NAIDOC events, she has since shared the stage with legends including the late Uncle Archie Roach, Casey Donovan, Paul Kelly, Troy Cassar-Daley.
“What a lot of blak and [people of colour] storytellers bring to the table is our lived experience as blak fellas. What’s really important is being able to tell that story and connect on that level with people who maybe don't have that same lived experience, but can find their own stories in ours.”
Kyarna gives back to the community through her involvement in Mummaga Storytelling Program at Oak Flats High School and the Nexus Arts Interplay Program. On Thursday, she will play original music "on the cusp of country and folk", with a focus on honest and personal storytelling.
“Uncle Ron will have the same approach – his songs also bring his lived experience in from a different angle – it sort of weaves in that idea of storytelling coming from this ancient culture, but it's really passed down through all of us,” Kyarna says.
The concert is produced by Inspire Music Australia, a not-for-profit providing development and performance opportunities for young musicians. As part of tomorrow's Emerging Concert Artists performance, Dr Joyce Donovan will give a Welcome to Country and her great-grandson, Quinten Dingo-Donovan, a student at Dapto High School, will perform.
“It’s really important that we get to share our stories and that people listen to them and hear what we’re saying – even when it’s uncomfortable and when it’s sad to hear," Kyarna says.
"Because for us, we’re pouring our hearts out into a song, and it’s three minutes of something that might have taken 20 years to come together and has completely ripped us open.”
Kyarna’s stories explore themes of love, loss, addiction and grief. She invites everyone to attend the concert and encourages them to hold space for the stories that will be shared.
“Especially for NAIDOC Week, we want people to connect with our music and be able to find themselves inside of it,” she says.
“People coming should have an open mind and an open heart – just know that some of these stories are heartbreaking, and they are a part of our storylines and songlines as Aboriginal people and as individuals.”
The concert is from 11am to 12:30pm on Thursday, July 3 at Wollongong Art Gallery. It is free and everyone is welcome, book your spot via Humanitix
