Omar Musa & Mariel Roberts

ACO Up Close: Omar Musa and Mariel Roberts

The award-winning artist is bringing his music, poetry and theatre performance, The Offering, to The Neilson at ACO On The Pier in collaboration with cellist Mariel Roberts.

Poet, rapper and novelist Omar Musa is a revelation on stage: inspiring and eloquent, with a buoyant comic presence and an emotional authenticity – an openness to sharing the pleasures and pains of life – that stands as a vital opposite to the bane of “toxic” masculinity. – The Age


Spanning novel-writing, poetry, hip-hop and visual art, the breadth of artist Omar Musa’s creativity is extraordinary.

Musa is completely unrestrained by categorisation, moving seamlessly through artforms to present spectacular pieces that challenge assumptions and highlight social issues in a completely open and fresh way.

The award-winning artist is bringing his one-hour music, poetry and theatre performance, The Offering, to The Neilson at ACO Pier 2/3.

The show – which sees Musa in collaboration with the groundbreaking cellist, composer and improvisor Mariel Roberts – explores themes of seafaring, environmental destruction, belonging, borderlessness and Omar’s family history in South-East Asia. It combines storytelling, poetry, hip hop, cello and original music using field recordings taken from forests and oceans in Malaysian Borneo.

A chance to experience two unique voices taking a deeply personal voyage into sound and story in a visually stunning and intimate setting.

PROGRAM
OMAR MUSA The Offering

ARTISTS

Omar Musa vocals, words, visuals
Mariel Roberts cello

CONCERT duration
70 minutes, no interval
Omar Musa & Mariel Roberts

Read

Omar Musa & Mariel Roberts Interview

We catch up with poet, rapper and novelist Omar Musa, and cellist Mariel Roberts, ahead of their ACO Up Close 2024 performance at ACO Pier 2/3.