As a young Dutch civil servant in the 1960s, Frank Hubatka saw the Papuans’ hopes for independence go up in smoke. His daughter, Merel Hubatka, wrote the novel Norman about this turbulent period in his life. The novel has now been adapted into an opera. 

The opera follows the storyline of the book, the life story of Norman Taborsky, Frank Hubatka’s fictional alter ego. In 1959, he traveled to the western half of the island of New Guinea. In his early twenties, Norman was appointed—in accordance with Dutch policy—to help the Papuans on their path to independence. Despite many promises, the Netherlands abandoned the Papuans, and Papua New Guinea was annexed by Indonesia. Papua Opera is a fact-based story about politics, hope, and disappointment, but above all about human resilience.

Jazz musician and composer Maarten Ornstein has delved into Papuan music and combines authentic melodies with jazz from the ’60s and ’70s and modern classical sounds. In addition to six classical, jazz, and pop singers, the cast also includes four Papuan singers—people living in exile in the Netherlands.

The cast consists of a combination of six classical, jazz, and pop singers, along with a choir of four Papuan singers—people living in exile in the Netherlands. In the leading roles, we see the young, up-and-coming Dutch singers Steven van der Linden, Yosina Roemajauw (2018 Voicekids winner), Channa Malkin, and Robinson Jouwe (the grandson of Nicolas Jouwe, who at the time was poised to become president of an independent Papua New Guinea).

The ensemble consists of nine musicians from the Concertgebouw Orchestra and is composed of two violins, a viola, a cello, a double bass, a trumpet, an Ondes Martenot synthesizer, and two percussionists. The musicians work directly with the singers.

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