"Speechless (2019) is an opera for 4 vocal soloists, bass orchestra and community choir, and is intended as a personal response to the plight of refugees worldwide. It inspired by the Australian Human Rights Commission report, ‘The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention,’ overseen by Gillian Triggs. When this report was tabled in the Australian Parliament in 2014, I was overcome with the cruelty of the debate around the future of detained asylum seekers. Speechless is my response to the plight of refugees worldwide – a protest and plea to citizens of all nations to support humanitarian values in the face of the evolving crises worldwide." - Cat Hope