Renowned cellist David Pereira, joined by the Bathurst Chamber Orchestra, will take centre stage for the bicentenary concert Remembering Mrs Macquarie – Bringing Her Cello Home.

During this special musical treat, Mr Pereira will play a new 

composition on a cello believed to have once belonged to Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s wife Elizabeth. 

The piece Old Man Emu at Flat Rock was inspired by a meeting between Mr Pereira and Wiradyuri elder Dinawan Dyirribang.

“[Dinawan] brought to my attention certain [aspects] of his people’s

cultural artefacts and spiritual life. And we quickly were friends,” he said.

“Meanwhile, with cello in hand and with him alongside me I found sounds and feelings that I knew were seeds of a piece of music.

“Old Man Emu at Flat Rock is a homage to Country and a simple but true offering to an ongoing reconciliation.”

The concert will take to the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre this evening from 7.30pm.

Tickets have been selling well for the concert, but there are still seats left.

They are available at the box office and online for $5 and $10 each.

Mayor Gary Rush said the concert is a celebration of the history of Bathurst in music and encouraged people to attend.

“The concert will open with a performance of Peter Sculthorpe’s composition, Remembering Mrs Macqu-arie, written to mark the 200th anniversary of the appointment of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, and the performance of David Pereira’s original piece Old Man Emu at Flat Rock (Meditation on Water, Wind and Rock), written especially for Bathurst’s bicentenary year, will be a highlight,” he said.