Storyteller Review — A Flautist Who Becomes the Story

Flautist Melanie Walters' solo recital Storyteller at Erskineville Town Hall, part of Sydney Fringe Festival 2026, weaves contemporary flute works through folktales, poetry and horror films. Angelique Ford finds a virtuosic performer who doesn't just interpret her material but steps inside it — an engaging and technically impressive hour well worth your time.

Reviewed by Angelique Ford.

Reading the description of Melanie Walters' Sydney Fringe Festival performance Storyteller, I wasn't sure what to expect. The blurb informed me that I would be seeing a solo recital of contemporary flute works drawing on folktales, poetry and horror films, and that stories would be "woven through music and text".

I wondered, as a soloist, how Walters would weave text through her flute-playing. Would she play with a backing track, read stories before she performed, or pause her playing to speak? Would the connection to poetry, folktales and horror films be obvious or subtle?

I walked into the office room of Erskineville Town Hall to see Melanie Walters sitting at the back with a laptop. After a few minutes, she pressed a button and a backing track began, bringing her to the front of the room.

Walters opened Storyteller with Nathalie Joachim's song 'Aware', where recorded beats and vocals played through the backing track. The song's repeated lyrics "Are you aware?" invited the audience to consider their attentiveness and focus closely on what Walters had in store.

Walters performed six compositions in total. Two used backing tracks: Joachim's 'Aware' and Kelly Catlin's 'In the Forest'. Two combined spoken narration with playing: Andrew Ford's 'Once upon a time there were two brothers…' and Wendy Hiscocks' 'Keshovati'. One was purely instrumental: Amy Beth Kirsten's 'Pirouette on a Moon Sliver' parts ii and iii.

Walters disappeared unexpectedly before 'Pirouette on a Moon Sliver' and reappeared in a subtle harlequin costume, eliciting a laugh from the audience. Her combined approach kept the performance fresh. The compositions were well-chosen, depicting different modes of storytelling, and Walters played each with ease.

Speaking and playing at once

Throughout the evening, Walters' playing was captivating. One of the most impressive pieces was Andrew Ford's 'Once upon a time there were two brothers…', based on the Grimm folktale 'The Singing Bone'. In this piece, the flautist is required to speak and play simultaneously, and Walters did so with emotion and impressive breath control.

Occasionally some consonants echoed through the flute as she recited brief sections with her instrument in position, ready to resume playing. This is more a limitation of the piece than a criticism of Walters' skill as a performer.

Toward the end of Ford's composition, the narrative featured a flute. As Walters told us what this flute did in the story, her flute did it too. She demonstrated its "beautiful silvery tone" and later, the loss of it, playing a lamenting tone accompanied by a recorded track of feedback noise. Rather than simply providing a musical interpretation of the Grimm tale, Walters entered into the story: she was no longer just the storyteller but became a character within it.

Walters' performance of Wendy Hiscocks' 'Keshovati' took a similar combined approach, with longer passages of text and longer instrumental sections. This piece was similarly engaging and well performed, but the narrative inclusion of the flute in Ford's composition really made it stand out.

Virtuosity, without solemnity

The performance's low-key setting, simple staging and sparse Wednesday night crowd were transcended by Walters' virtuosity as a flautist. She holds a PhD in flute performance with dean's commendation, was recently named the South Australian Luminary in the 2026 Art Music Awards, and performs frequently as a soloist and with ensembles.

Seeing someone with such impressive talent not take themself too seriously — putting on a playful and experimental performance — was a real delight. Throughout the evening, her passion for the flute and for folktales was clearly evident and frankly delightful. Storyteller is an engaging and technically impressive hour, well worth your time.

Melanie Walters' performance Storyteller was part of the 2026 Sydney Fringe Festival program and took place at Erskineville Town Hall from the first to fifth of September at 6pm.

Flute & performance: Melanie Walters
Venue: Erskineville Town Hall
Dates: 1–5 September 2026, 6pm
Festival: Sydney Fringe Festival 2026

Photos supplied by the performer; photo credit unconfirmed.

Reviewed by Angelique Ford.