– Seven unique artists to deliver a diverse program of
performanceswith plenty of quirk –
Tuesday, 14 April 2015: Annual ideas festival, TEDxSydney, has today announced its 2015 performer line-up. An eclectic, carefully curated line-up of artists has been assembled showcasing the diversity, skill and multiculturalism of modern day Australia. Each act will either present something entirely new, a collaboration or a considered take on their material, keeping in tiding with the event and its themes.
Echoing this year’s curatorial theme of learning, the performances will complement the speaker, film and food program at the full day event. Stylistically spanning jazz, West African griot culture, songcraft, drumming, electronica and dance, the audience can expect something new at each turn.
TEDxSydney Performance Curator, Jordan Verzar, said this year’s diverse collective of performers will reinforce the power of ideas: “The 2015 program features an extraordinarily talented line-up of artists who will offer layers of tradition, innovation, skill, and a little bit of quirk. I’m excited to see how this eclectic mix of musical backgrounds and ideas will come together on stage.
Introducing the 2015 performer line-up:
· LISA GERRARD
Over a career spanning almost two decades with highlights including Dead Can Dance, award-winning movie soundtracks and a series of acclaimed solo and collaborative albums, Lisa Gerrard has established herself as one of Australia’s most groundbreaking and in-demand artists. A composer, vocalist and instrumentalist, Gerrard has recorded nine albums with Dead Can Dance, numerous solo albums and scored countless films. She has collaborated with many of the world’s leading artists such as Hans Zimmer, Daniel Johns, Ennio Morricone and Russel Crowe.
· MOHMED BANGOURA:
Mohmed Bangoura was born into a Griot family in Guinea, West Africa. Griots are the traditional oral historians of Africa. It is their hereditary responsibility to tell and re-tell the stories of their ancestors through music, song and dance. Mohamed started to play at the age of five for traditional ceremonies and became a member and featured soloist of the international acclaimed ‘Percussion de Guineé’ as well as other National Ballet Ensembles based in Conakry.
He is described in Guinea as the man with “Hands of Fire”, “the Lion of Matam”, already regarded by many critics as one of the best amongst the Master Drummers of this world. His has dedicated his life entirely to his music and traditions, mesmerizing audiences with his out of this world skills, talent, power and virtuosity. Bangouraké is a true master through initiation and ability.
· JACK LADDER
Jack Ladder (real name Tim Rogers) is a singer, songwriter and composer based in The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Since 2005 he has released four albums: Not Worth Waiting For, Love is Gone, HURTSVILLE (the last two shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize) and Playmates. Each album has seen a stylistic shift musically, but always there are his distinct baritone voice, well-honed songwriting craft and an ability to draw the listener into his narratives, holding them there to the end.
Backed again by his band The Dreamlanders, Playmates was his most acclaimed album to date, and saw a release in early 2015 by the esteemed label Fat Possum in North America and Japan.
· ALON ILSAR featuring Airsticks
Percussionist Alon IIsar creates visually compelling and futuristic music by grabbing, altering and morphing between sounds on his new 3D timbral Theremin, the AirSticks. This gestural electronic drumkit designed by llsar and computer programmer Mark Havryliv also allows the live sampling and manipulation of other live instruments, completely blurring the line between drumming, sound design and dancing. As an improvising drummer llsar “brilliantly comments and reflects on the action”, but as the world’s only Airsticks player he creates “freaky-future sound”.
· CHI UDAKA
In 2014 Australia’s premiere taiko ensemble Taikoz and South Indian Classical dance company Lingalayam presented an 80-minute dance theatre workcalled Chi Udaka at the Sydney Festival. Their performance at TEDxSydney is a snapshot of that work. Entitled ‘Of The Fields’, the scene is set on the afternoon of a hot summer day. The music and choreography partners (and sometimes pits!) dancer against drummer in a display of furiously fleet, fancy foot and stick work. At times delicate and dramatic, ‘Of The Fields’ connects the dynamism of Taikoz’ taiko with Lingalayam’s blend of Bharatha Natyam and Kuchipudi dance forms.
· FRANK YAMMA
Frank Yamma is a well-known Australian musician, instrument maker, composer, musical director and community music facilitator. A traditional Pitjantjatjara man from Australia’s central desert, he speaks five languages. An extraordinary songwriter and an exceptional guitarist Frank has been on the stage since he was nine years old. First performing with his father Isaac Yamma, founder of CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Music Association, Frank also has an incredible voice, rich, deep and resonant. Regarded by many as one of Australia’s most important Indigenous songwriters, Yamma’s brutally honest tales of alcohol abuse, cultural degradation, respect for the old law and the importance of country are spine tingling. Frank has the ability to cross cultural and musical boundaries and constantly sets new standards through his music.
· SANDY EVANS WITH JAMES GREENING AND BOYD
Sandy Evans OAM is an internationally renowned ARIA award winning saxophonist, composer and music researcher with a passion for improvisation and new music. She has played with and written for some of the most important groups in Australian jazz since the early 1980s and has toured extensively in Australia, Europe, Canada and Asia. In 2014 Sandy received her PhD from Macquarie University for research in Carnatic jazz intercultural music, and a Churchill Fellowship to continue her research in India. Her latest CD, ‘Kapture’, a fusion of jazz and Indian music, is a tribute to South African freedom fighter Ahmed Kathrada. In ‘Transcendent Arc’ she is joined by two of Australia’s leading wind players – James Greening, pocket trumpet and trombone, and Boyd, contrabass clarinet – to explore and celebrate the beauty of breath and melody.
