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Deborah Cheetham

Deborah Joy Cheetham, AO (born 24 November 1964 in Nowra, New South Wales), is an Aboriginal Australian soprano, actor, composer and playwright.Cheetham is a member of the Stolen Generations; she was taken from her mother when she was three weeks old and was raised by a white baptist family. Jimmy Little is her uncle. Cheetham graduated from the NSW Conservatorium of Music with a Bachelor of Music Education Degree.In 1997 Cheetham wrote the autobiographical play White Baptist Abba Fan which tells of her experiences of coming to terms with her sexuality and racial identity whilst trying to reunite with her Aboriginal family. White Baptist Abba Fan has toured internationally.As a soprano Cheetham has performed internationally in France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand She sang the for the opening ceremony of the 2003 Rugby World Cup and performed at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics.In October 2010, Cheetham's opera Pecan Summer, based on the Cummeragunja walk-off, opened in Mooroopna, near Shepparton. She wrote, composed and performed in the production by the Short Black Opera Company.In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List, Cheetham was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for "distinguished service to the performing arts as an opera singer, composer and artistic director, to the development of Indigenous artists, and to innovation in performance".