More than 30,000 Australians became prisoners of war (POWs) between 1940 and 1945. The majority of them were imprisoned during the Pacific War in camps throughout Japanese-occupied territories. Over 8000 of these POWs died in captivity, which represents 20% of all Australian deaths in WWII. The Flowers of Peace wishes to further reconcile this raw and painful history, using powerful music and imagery, to acknowledge the past and help repair this wound.

Christopher Latham OAM, Director of Flowers of Peace, says the POW Requiem is a unique musical event steeped in history. “The work is essentially a response to Sandakan; how to forgive the unforgiveable.”

“From the Women’s Vocal Orchestra who sang to unite and raise internees spirits, made famous by Bruce Beresford’s film Paradise Road, to the Changi Songbook, created to give captives hope, we will perform the music created by prisoners and internees.”

Australia’s leading composers, Sir Jonathan Mills, Elena Kats-Chernin AO, Graeme Koehne AO, Andrew Schultz, Cyrus Meurant and Ross Edwards AM, along with British composers Paul Carr and Paul Mealor have created the POW Requiem to tell these stories.

Renowned performers such as Susannah Lawergren, Andrew Goodwin, Dr Riley Lee, Tobias Cole, Alice Giles AM and Dr Edward Neeman, as well as the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Australian Defence Force musicians and Choirs will tell stories of Australian POWs in Europe, the Fall of Singapore, the use of POW and Asian forced labourers, the construction of the Thai Burma Railroad, and local stories around the internment of German, Italian and Japanese civilians in Australia.

“The concert ends by telling the history of Japanese-Australian reconciliation - how a handful of individuals moved to restore relations between our two countries and in doing so built a legacy that still stands today.” Christopher says. The concert follows in their slipstream.

Llewellyn Hall, Canberra

For tickets, please visit: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/Shows/Show.aspx?sh=POWREQ22

For more information please visit: https://www.flowersofpeace.com.au/powrequiem