THE SOUNDS OF A NATION’S SOUL

One of Australia’s leading clarinetists , Ros Dunlop , who captured  the musical soul of Timor-Leste, is expected to pass  through Darwin tomorrow on her way to that country. After 10 years of research, she wrote Lian Husi Musika Tradisional Husi Timor–Leste ( Sounds of the Soul :The Traditional Music of East Timor ) . The unique book was supported by the United States Ambassadors’ Fund For Cultural Preservation. Dunlop made her first trip to Timor-Leste in April 2002 with Timor activist brothers Robert and Martin Wesley-Smith and gave concerts which included Martin’s audio-visual pieces about East Timor. She became enchanted by the country, its people, culture and began making regular visits to record the local music . Darwin agronomist, Robert Wesley-Smith, recently received an author’s presentation copy of the book with an inscription saying it would never have been written without his help. He said Dunlop was a tireless worker and entertainer ; he recalled that one night she , he and  his  brother were accommodated  in a police cell  as they travelled about the country  . Dunlop   was enthusiastically supported by many people, including musicians , translators, artists from the Arte Moris Art School and young Timorese from the audio visual archive, Centro Archivo Max Stuhl Timor-Leste. Well  illustrated, the book is in Tetun and English. Copies can be ordered through rosdunlop@teekeemedia.com.