Welcome to the Flowers of Peace
Producers of commemorative concerts.
The Flowers of Peace (formerly Flowers of War) is the project name for two independent arts practitioners who create and produce music to enhance peace and deepen understanding of the impacts of war. They do this emotional and sensitive work by creating concerts that impartially recounts the history of the worst 20th century conflicts by blending music, text and imagery. The concerts are performed with a diverse range of musical genres and also often feature revived forgotten compositions.
Since 2015, they've generated 60+ hours of music, engaged 550+ artists and singers, and reached thousands of non-traditional arts audiences. They've also commissioned 26 world premieres, or premieres of Australian composer arrangements. This remarkable achievement is made possible by the philanthropic generosity of Metal Manufactures Limited through the Australian War Memorial. Funding for production, performance, recording and music publishing needs to be raised separately.
All music becomes a gift to the nation that will be published on line and archived by the Australian War Memorial enabling free use in perpetuity.
Our next project: The Music of Memory Series
The Music of Memory Series will explore Holocaust and trans-generational trauma through performances, lecture/demonstrations, and collaborative discussions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, and Adelaide. The series will culminate in the Holocaust Memorial on 31 October 2024, in partnership with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
This carefully designed series, developed in collaboration with Jewish organisations, seamlessly intertwines key Holocaust themes through the lens of art and culture. While war commemorations often centre on battles, this innovative approach sheds light on the cultural losses that accompany conflict. Leveraging the power of music and culture, our aim is to facilitate a therapeutic journey and promote post-traumatic growth, ultimately shaping the performance of the Holocaust Memorial.
The series dates and venues are currently being determined and a full program will be released soon.
Our next concert: Kaddish: A Holocaust Memorial
The Holocaust Memorial, commissioned by the Australian War Memorial with funds from Metal Manufactures Ltd, will premiere with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Hamer Hall on 31 October 2024, marking 80 years since the discovery and liberation of the first execution camps, and the murders of the Jewish composers, musicians and artists from Terezin / Theresienstadt.
For tickets and further information visit: https://www.mso.com.au/performance/2024-kaddish-a-holocaust-memorial-concert
Download music and program guides
We are pleased to provide recordings from the concerts to anyone to play or use for free for non-commercial and commemorative purposes. We have managed to provide the recordings from many of the WWI centenary year and the Diggers’ Requiem to date. Program Guides are available for these concerts as well as the Vietnam Requiem and the POW Requiem. These guides are full of intersesting facts and stories and are a great resource. The music from the Vietnam and POW Requiem will be uploaded as soon as possible. In the meantime, please follow the link from the menu bar to discover the wealth of research and beautiful music produced so far...
Click here to download WWI music, sheet music and Program Guides from the extensive catalogue of the Flowers of the Great War Collection (including the complete works of F.S. Kelly in Chapter 5 (Australia’s greatest cultural loss of WWI)
For a brief background about F.S. Kelly click here
Download Songs of the Great War music here
Publishing of the ‘Changi Songbook’
The ‘Changi Songbook’ was recorded for the first time from 25th to the 27th July 2022. This significant cultural recovery and preservation project from WWII will ensure that these songs will be available to a new generation. All 24 songs contained within the Songbook were recorded in the Street Theatre in Canberra - without whose support this project would not have been possible.
Chris Latham, Director states “I find them funny, beautiful and catchy. They are wonderfully made, inventive and a delight to work on. I have had them as ear worms for weeks now. They constantly put a smile on my face.”
We have now entered the next phase of the project and that is to publish the songs. We need to raise the funds to pay for the expertise of skilled technicians and produce video clips to complete the project. We can then publicise and publish these songs that we hope will be played at commemorative services in the future (particularly when the story behind the songs becomes known).
For a snippet of the depth of feeling and the importance of this project, please take two minutes and watch Neil Pigot and Bill Risby rehearse ‘They’ve Taken my Old Pal Away’.