About Us
Arafura Music Collective is a community of musicians and performing artists based in Garrmalang (Darwin), on Gulumoerrgin (Larrakia) land, in the Northern Territory.
We are passionate about creating music together in small ensembles and contributing to the unique cultural life of our community.
Nearly 30 years ago, Arafura Music Collective had its genesis in a group of friends who shared a love for the chamber music repertoire and the sheer joy of playing together in a small ensemble.
We named ourselves ‘Arafura’ to reflect our unique place in Australia on the shores of the Arafura Sea. The community began laying the foundation for the Arafura Music Collective of today, inviting and attracting musicians and performing artists who shared the same values and passion for chamber music.
Located in Darwin, a vibrant, complex, and diverse multicultural community connected to the deserts of Central Australia and the countries of Asia and the Pacific, through the Arafura Sea we express our commitment to our place through creative collaborations and artistic expression. We enjoy performing in unique spaces that celebrate the stories of Darwin and the Northern Territory.
Our audiences come to be surprised, challenged, moved, delighted, and entertained.
We invite them into the rich intimate drama of chamber music—a few musicians and their instruments, each completely dependent on the other, listening and watching intently, sensing the most subtle cues, responding instantly and flexibly to share their musical lines and weave their individual voices together.
The meeting of eyes, the drawing of breath in unison, the rhythms of bodies moving together with expressions of intense focus—this experience draws people into a performative experience that connects audience and musicians and cannot be replicated in large venues or online environments.
We love to collaborate to create and recreate works spanning and crossing cultural traditions.
Performing in all combinations, from solos and duos to small chamber orchestras, and engaging with mentors and collaborating artists, we learn from each other to provide creative development for our musicians and collaborators. We invite and attract artists who share the values of generous collaboration, trust, respect for diversity, and voice in the creative process, with a focus on striving for technical and artistic mastery.
Arafura seeks to increase diversity in the music we play and the collaborations we engage in, thereby providing our members and audience with access to a more diverse creative expression of the cultures of Darwin and the NT.
We have a strong commitment to acknowledging the Larrakia peoples, their aspirations, and their ownership of the lands of the Darwin region. We also seek opportunities to collaborate with the Larrakia community and artists. Each of these collaborations is intended to explore and create shared artistic expression, and to support within our community, a deeper understanding of Larrakia aspirations and custodianship.
Interested in joining our community?
You can get involved with the Arafura Music Collective community in many ways – and you don’t need to be a musician
Our Impact
Arafura Music Collective is recognised as an integral contributor and innovator within the cultural landscape of the Northern Territory and Australia.
We cultivate a vibrant ecosystem of musicians, collaborators, and audiences to contribute to the diverse artistic heritage of the NT.
Through intimate small ensemble music performances, we enrich lives, inspire joy, and foster connections across genres, cultures, generations, and communities.
Our Values
Artistic Excellence
and Integrity
We are dedicated to the continued development of artistic mastery, and to crafting authentic and transformative musical experiences.
Innovation
We engage our community through unique and creative practices and performances inspired by diverse cultural traditions and performance genres.
Community
We contribute to creating an inclusive and respectful community of performing artists and audiences that supports and honours diversity, access, and inclusion.
Collaboration
We connect with the musicians, artists and arts organisations of our city and region through interdisciplinary and intercultural collaborations.
Our People
After operating as an unincorporated organisation since 1996 the Foundation Board of Arafura Music Collective Incorporated was formally established in March 2023. The constitution of Arafura Music Collective specifies a Board of minimum six members maximum eight members consisting of the following roles: Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Public Officer and three General Members. The Creative Director/Producer is an Ex Officio member.
Greg Anderson is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has served as a Director of Bible Society NSW, Kormilda College Limited, Nungalinya College and Anglicare NT, as well as chairing the Synod of the Diocese of the Northern Territory Inc and its Diocesan Council and Property and Finance Committee.
He is a regular performer with Arafura Music Collective (as well as its Public Officer and one of its inaugural Directors), Darwin Chorale (as well as being on its performance management committee from time to time), and Vocalective.
Catherine brings a wealth of governance and leadership experience to the Arafura Music Collective’s (AMC’s) table. She has honed her strategic planning, critical thinking and decision-making skills through her professional practice as a research leader and in her executive governance roles across diverse community organisations in the sports sector, domestic and family violence, community mediation and childcare services and in school councils.
Catherine values excellence, integrity and collaboration, and is especially passionate about ‘communities’ that are accessible and inclusive of diversity. With a love for the Territory’s people and places, she is excited to contribute to musical experiences that are enriching, expressive and engaging and which celebrate our rich cultural fabric.
Rosemary Antonini serves as the Chief Operating Officer of ArtsVision, a software platform that services major arts organisations around the globe. She has over a decade of experience in arts administration, having worked with various organisations, such as Musica Viva, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Chamber Music Festival as well as with current clients across the globe in her role with ArtsVision.
She holds a Master of IT Project Management, a Graduate certificate in Management, Certification in Change Management, a Bachelor of Music, and a Graduate Diploma in Professional Music Practice. Rosemary is a professional musician (bassoonist/contrabassoonist), with a passion lies in connecting people through music, in particular chamber music, and the intimacy and ways in which it can move people
Greyson participated in various string orchestras and symphonies whilst growing up in the USA. Moving to Darwin expanded his musical ensemble involvement and introduced him to a diverse range of opportunities and understanding. His most memorable and meaningful performances have been those working with First Nations people to express their experiences and stories through music. Greyson is currently the principal violist of Darwin Symphony Orchestra and an optometry practice manager. As part of the Arafura Music Collective Board, he looks to draw on his leadership skills to further extend AMC’s reach into the community and deliver performances that inspire.
Kate Stephens is an experienced arts manager and freelance cellist living in the Northern Territory. She has worked as General Manager of Darwin Symphony Orchestra since April 2018, was previously Company Manager at Victorian Opera (Melbourne) and has also worked with other major performing arts companies The Australian Ballet and Musica Viva Australia.
As well as her career as an arts leader, Kate plays cello in Darwin Symphony Orchestra, and has played with Indigenous and cross-cultural collaboration The Djari Project, chamber music with Arafura Music Collective, and other contemporary music artists. Originally training as a cellist as part of a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Music before studying a Master of Arts and Cultural Management at the University of Melbourne, her musical understanding complements and enriches her approach to arts management
Brian is a musician, guitarist and educator based in Darwin, Australia.
He has been a contributing artist to the Darwin music scene for more than two decades performing across Baroque, Latin, Spanish, and Modern classical music as well as Bossa-Nova and Jazz guitar. Each performance that Brian gives is treated with respect, care and attention to detail. He has self-recorded and produced several CDs, been guest artist in a range of live and pre-recorded works, given many live concerts, lectures and has taught several thousand guitar students from ages 4 to 76.
He is a founding member of Darwin Classical Guitar Group/ Society and has been a member of Arafura Music Collective for many years.
Brian is passionate about small ensemble music with a particular love for early music. As a member of the Arafura Music Collective Board he looks forward to building the early music group, and contribution to strategic planning and implementation for continued sustainability,
Claire Kilgariff has been a key member of Arafura Music Collective since its earliest inception.
A musician and educator, she has devoted nearly 50 years to the cultural life of the NT. Born in Alice Springs and Claire holds degrees in both Visual Arts and Music and post graduate qualifications in Management, and Leadership and Change Management. Claire’s professional life has been animated by a deep belief in the transformative power of the Arts and in particular music, for fostering empathy and understanding, bridging cultural divides, and nurturing a just and equitable society. She has worked at all levels of music making and education from working with small children through to tertiary education and within executive administration. Claire believes in the unique creativity of NT artists and is drawn to intercultural and inter genre collaborations as an expression of unique cultural life of the NT.
Claire is recognised as an innovative and adventurous Creative Director, one of only three Territorians to ever receive the APRA AMCOS NT Luminary Award (2022). This award recognised her sustained contribution to art music through performance, artistic directorship, and mentorship.