The Marais Project
Artists
SUSIE BISHOP voice, violin
TOMMIE ANDERSSON lute,guitar
JENNY ERIKSSON viola da gamba
NARRATOR (optional)
The Marais Project is a celebration of music for the viola da gamba inspired by Marin Marais, the great French virtuoso viola da gamba performer & composer. Formed by Jennifer Eriksson in 2000, the ensemble has presented concerts for 25+ years, toured widely, regularly appeared at festivals & made dozen recordings. They also specialise in Nordic folk and baroque music.
The Fantastical Life of Daniel Solander
Beautiful music on first encounters
The Fantastical Life of Daniel Solander is a vibrant and captivating musical journey that glimpses Cook’s 1770 voyage through some uncommon perspectives – those of Swedish botanist Dr Daniel Solander, the ship's quirky scientific advisor, and the continent’s First Nations peoples.
The dramatised performance opens with a work by Biribi-Gamillaroi composer Troy Russell, before drawing audiences into a world of rarely heard music – songs and dances from early colonial Australia that bear witness to the profound impact of settlement on Aboriginal peoples. Central to this are 1830s collaborations from composer Isaac Nathan and poet Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, including The Aboriginal Father and The Aboriginal Mother, and colonial-era tunes from the collection of Sydney Living Museums. Woven throughout is delightful Swedish folk and baroque music from Solander's own era, creating an intimate portrait of encounter and exchange. Diary excerpts from the voyage thread the performance together, illuminating fleeting moments of curiosity, wonder, misunderstanding and cultural collision – all brought vividly to life by The Marais Project's masterful musicianship. The project was broadcast in Europe in 2022, presented in the 2025 Canowindra Baroque Music Festival, and again in Sydney in November 2025.
This performance includes an optional opportunity for a local volunteer to join as actor/narrator.
PROGRAM
Troy RUSSELL The Acceptance (arr. by Tommie Andersson)
Carl Michael BELLMAN (1740-1795) (arr. by Tommie Andersson)
Fredmans Epistel No. 2 – Till Fader Berg, rörande fiolen (arr. by Tommie Andersson)
Fredmans Sång No. 64 – Haga (arr. by Tommie Andersson)
Traditional Swedish (arr. by Tommie Andersson)
Låt till Far (Song to Father) - Pers Erik Olsson (1912-1983)
Gråtlåten (The Crying Tune) - after Röjås Jonas (1921-1989)
Isaac NATHAN (c.1791-1864)
The Aboriginal Mother
The Aboriginal Father (‘A Native Song of the Maneroo Tribe.’ Text transcribed by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop)
Traditional Australian The Streets of Forbes (arr. by Llew and Mara Kiek/Tommie Andersson)
Traditional Scottish
Johny Faa, An Old Scots Song (Arr. by Tommie Andersson. From the collections of Sydney Living Museums)
Johan WIKMANSON (1753-1800) Sonate för en Zittra
Traditional Swedish (arr. by Tommie Andersson)
Kristallen den fina (Dalvisa) - From Skattungbyn, Dalarna
Polska - from Fu, after Bengt Mattsson, Mora)
George STRONG (1853) Catadon Polka (arr. by Tommie Andersson. From the collections of Sydney Living Museums)
Traditional Swedish
Gammal fäbodpsalm (Old Pastoral Hymn) (arr. by Tommie Andersson. Originally set by Oskar Lindberg)
Kom du lilla flicka (Dala Polska) (Arr. by Tommie Andersson)
About the Artists
Equally at home as a singer & violinist, Susie Bishop completed her first degree in music and theatre at Wollongong University and continued her studies with a Master of Music degree at the Royal Northern Conservatorium of Music. She has performed with The Marais Project, The Song Company, & Ensemble Offspring, and in 2019 she was an associate artist with Pacific Opera and in 2020. Other projects include Chaika, Meremba, Elysian Fields, Inlay Ensemble & the Miriam Lieberman Trio.
Tommie Andersson was born in Sweden & has been based in Sydney since 1984. He is one of Australia’s leading specialists in lutes and early guitars. He completed a Masters degree in performance in Gothenburg. He undertook further studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Tommie was a founding member of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra & features in some sixty recordings for CD or vinyl. In 1990 he released La Suèdoise, an album of solo music for guitar & lute from the time of Queen Christina of Sweden. He is a skilled arranger & well-versed in Swedish folk music.
Jennifer Eriksson undertook studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before moving to The Netherlands for three years to undertake viola da gamba tuition with Jaap ter Linden at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. She founded The Marais Project in 2000 & directed Musica Viva Australia in Schools ensembles for 30+ years, giving more than 3,000 concerts across urban, rural and remote locations. She has recorded eleven albums and commissioned more than thirty new works.