Attenborough’s Ocean in Concert | Camerata
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Ocean with David Attenborough is a powerful documentary film, originally released in May 2025 to coincide with Sir David Attenborough’s 99th birthday. Following successful showings in cinemas across the world, the film is still available on streaming services. However, seeing the work on a large screen can have so much more impact--particularly when Steven Price’s incredible score is played live.
Attenborough is an internationally significant broadcaster and natural historian, with decades of creating and presenting nature documentaries that date back to the influential Life series (which began in 1979) and including the more recent Blue Planet nature documentaries (2001, 2017, 2026). Since the State of the Planet (2000), Attenborough’s documentaries have been described as having ‘a more overtly environmentalist stance.’
Ocean with David Attenborough is an authoritative call to action. The film includes the beautiful cinematography and underwater photography that Attenborough shows are famous for—in Oceans, thanks to the work of Doug Anderson (Director of Photography, Underwater) and Toby Strong (Cinematographer). The images of kelp forests and coral reefs are stunning, and the close-up footage of species such as the Peacock Mantis Shrimp and of plankton are very special. However, the strongest images within the film are those which convey the existential threat to ocean ecosystems. The juxtaposition of ice-perched penguins, revealed to be against a background of the menacing factory ships, is chilling. Attenborough speaks of how the ships now reach into the ‘remote’ oceans, plundering the Antarctic krill to produce health supplements and even dog food. And the footage of the brutal trawl nets, destroying the sea bed in an incredibly inefficient and destructive method of fishing, is nauseating.
Skilfully edited by Philippa Edwards, Ocean with David Attenborough presents an impressive argument and powerful message, which benefits from the testimony of several coast-dwellers from around the world, including people who live and work in Scotland, Liberia, and Hawaii. Fortunately, as with the best of orators, Attenborough not only outlines the problem (‘how did this happen?”), and highlights the urgency for change (‘we have drained the life from our oceans; now we are almost out of time’), but also shares wisdom, experience, and a message of hope. Here’s hoping that the no-take protection can increase from 3% to the suggested 33% before it really is too late.
The 2026 Brisbane Festival program includes only two performances of Attenborough's Ocean in Concert. Conducted by Peter Morris, Camerata, Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, has risen to the challenge of performing Steven Price’s glorious music in the QPAC Concert Hall. Unsurprisingly, this requires one of the larger gatherings of musicians for a chamber performance, and the skills of a talented conductor to ensure the music is ‘on track.’ Conductor Peter Morris, and Concertmaster Jason Tong are joined by 36 musicians onstage, and the orchestra is further augmented with the glorious vocals of three Mezzo-Sopranos (Madeline Gibbs, Jenny Gunnarsson, Christina Nichols) and three Altos (Eleanor Adeney, Laura James, and Alanah Mayers). If the Camerata team can make a recording of this piece available, I am sure there would be many of us queuing up to buy a copy. The recurrent theme is glorious, the flowing strings inspiring, and the ways in which the sounds of each instrument blend with the skills of the vocalists is fabulous.
Ocean with David Attenborough is an impressive piece of storytelling and advocacy. The directors note that ‘showing audiences things they’ve never seen before, revealing truths that were previously hidden and wrapping them up in an urgent, powerful and relatable story, can bring about a change in perspective and public mood’ (Toby Nowlan [also the Producer], Keith Scholey [Silverback Films] and Colin Butfield [Open Planet Studios]). I just hope that the film continues to build momentum for change.
Congratulations to the talented Camerata team for taking on the role of ‘live music partner’ for this special event (Brendan Joyce, Artistic Director). The extensive production credits included in the Oceans in Concert program demonstrate the levels of technical and programming skill required to bring this event to the QPAC stage (production team led by Ellen Kavanagh, Executive Director Curatorial, and Elodie Boal, Producer). I enjoyed hearing the music in the QPAC Concert Hall, but it would have been wonderful to see this film on a larger screen, in a major cinema, with a sound system that is better suited to the film. Fortunately the captions ensure that all the words of the narrator and interviewees can be seen, even if not always clearly heard. And, after all, most of us were there to experience the live music.
The 2026 Brisbane Festival Camerata Attenborough's Ocean in Concert offers audiences a memorable experience, and the warm and extended applause is a measure of the skill of the musicians, vocalists and conductor. The production is another impressive demonstration of the talents of the Camerata team, and of their willingness to offer followers rich and varied programming. I can’t wait to see where Camerata’s 2026 season takes us next.
Attenborough's Ocean in Concert, played 16-17 September 2026 at the Concert Hall, QPAC, Southbank as part of the 2026 Brisbane Festival.
