Michael Atherton's The Mahogany Ship (excerpt from the opening) - a work commissioned by the Sydney Children's Choir, supported by the Australia Council. The performance was a staged version at Newtown Theatre, September, 2001. Musical director-Lyn Williams; Producer-Chris Jannides; Designer-Jenny Wilson.

The Mahogany Ship was composed for SSA choir, narrator, string quartet and percussion. It has an intercultural, historical theme researched by composer Michael Atherton. The text was written by novelist Amy McGrath and the composer. This work explores a possible encounter in 1521 between Indigeneous people, the Gunditjmara, and shipwrecked Portuguese explorers led by Cristovao de Mendonca. The encounter, although conjectural, is based on lost evidence of the remains of the hull of Portuguese mahogany caravelle. The composer believes that the Portuguese came south from Timor and navigated the east coast of Australia, over 250 years before Cook. There are many shipwrecks off the Victorian coast, and it's possible that one of Mendonca's flotilla was wrecked off Warrnambool, having passed through Bass Strait, seeking a passage around the south of the continent, into the Pacific. (less info)