Mark Simeon Ferguson - Where Emus Roam the Streets (2022) Hi Res

Violinist Sarah Curro and her violin maker husband Paul Davies put the timber in timbre, Mark Simeon Ferguson's new album is inspired by the Ikara-Flinders mountains, and Foreign Correspondent's Matt Davis tells us how music is helping the resistance in Myanmar.

Sarah Curro and her husband Paul Davies are a match made in heaven: she’s a violinist in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and he’s a luthier – a violin maker. They both join Andrew to talk about the craft, its history, and how modern makers can create instruments that work for modern musicians and new music. This story is our musical way of marking National Science Week and its theme, The Trees That Made Us.

Composer and jazz pianist Mark Simeon Ferguson’s new album Where Emus Roam The Streets is a tribute to a ghost town called Beltana in the upper Ikara-Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Featuring an all-female jazz band, plus the voice of senior Adnyamathanha man Terrence Coulthard, it’s an aural journey into the landscape, the character of the place, and its history.

And Foreign Correspondent’s Matt Davis gives us an update on what’s happening in Myanmar, and how the resistance fighting youth are turning to music (and a John Denver song) to raise funds and morale.