Maroochy Barambah

Who is Maroochy Barambah?

Maroochy Barambah is an Australian Aboriginal mezzo-soprano singer.

She was born Yvette Isaacs in the 1950s in Cherbourg, Queensland. She is of the Turrbal-Gubbi Gubbi people and is a member of the Stolen Generations. She considers herself a beneficiary of her removal. As a tribute to her Aboriginality she took the names Maroochy and Barambah.

Maroochy Barambah rose to fame for her part in the 1989 Sydney Metropolitan Opera production of Black River, by Julianne Schultz and Andrew Schultz, an opera about black deaths in custody, and later starring in the 1993 film adaption which was awarded the Grand-Prix, Opera Screen at Opera Bastille, Paris. She also has appeared in the indigenous musical Bran Nue Dae, the 1981 television series Women of the Sun and in the opera Beach Dreaming.

She has released two singles, one of which, Aborigine, reached the top 10 on the U.S. Billboard Dance chart.

She performed at the 1993 AFL Grand Final, singing Waltzing Matilda and Advance Australia Fair.