Penelope
Sat, 25 Oct
|Magdalen Laundry, Abbotsford Convent
Time & Location
25 Oct 2025, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Magdalen Laundry, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford VIC 3067, Australia
About the event
Penelope is a narrative song cycle with music by Sarah Kirkland Snyder and libretto by Ellen McLaughlin that blends art song and indie folk into an other-worldly musical experience. The text uses the story of Penelope from Homer's The Odyssey as a lens to explore the story of a veteran who returns to his wife after 20 years away in an unnamed war, and explores themes of memory, trauma and homecoming.
“One of the most powerful expressions of the indie classical style is Snider’s breakthrough work, 'Penelope'… [It] maintains a high level of emotional and expressive intensity while demonstrating the composer’s innate ability to present powerful and evocative stories through music.”
- Gramophone Magazine, March 1, 2022
While Penelope has been performed many times in the USA, to popular and critical acclaim, it has only once been performed in Australia (Four Winds Festival, 2023). And it has never been performed…