2021 - The Last shot by Troy Russell

Composer

The last Shot

Sound

The Last Shot is a story of anger and sorrow, told through conceptual composition with a folk twist. It is a story that tells of the love and happiness that is found in each other's arms and hearts, but it is also a story that ends tragically as it has for many people whose lives have been lost in colonial Australia.

Jimmy and Florrie lead happy lives. Recently married in the traditional way, they go to local dances and play and sing music with the local mob back at the “Blacks Camp”. One night, Florrie is assaulted and Jimmy accidentally kills her assailant. They both take flight as they fear the rage and retribution of the attacker’s elder brother, a wealthy landowner who wants revenge. With no magistrate or police in the area, the angry landowner forces a Tracker to find them and together they set off in pursuit. Along the journey Jimmy and Florrie meet strangers who share their stories through song, but with the landowner and the Tracker in pursuit, it’s not long before they meet in an eventual showdown.

Troy’s Story

Troy John Russell is of the Biripi people of the Greater Manning area near Taree, and the Gamillaroi people of the New England area. Troy's journey with music began at 11, when a neighbour offered to teach him the fundamentals of music and after he discovered an old photograph of his father playing a banjo he learned that his family from Taree was a musical family. Troy is currently working at NAISDA where he teaches DanceFilm to the Developing Artists there. He continues to write music in collaboration with his band GiiMusic and also plays guitar with Green Hand Band.

 During 2019, Troy was commissioned by The Sydney Living Museums for a piece of music for their “Songs of Home” exhibition, which recently won a Museums and Galleries National Award for 'Songs of Home', beating other major art galleries and museums across the country. In 2020 Troy was commissioned by River City Voices to write a choral piece.