“An enthralling and powerful celebration of Australian music.”
WILLIAM BARTON STEPHEN PIGRAM & THE NARLI ENSEMBLE FEATURING STEPHEN MAGNUSSON, ERKKI VELTHEIM, RON REEVES, TRISTEN PARR AND SPECIAL GUESTS
THE REFLECTION TOUR 8–29 SEPTEMBER 2015 KUNUNURRA WYNDHAM BEAGLE BAY DJARINDJIN LOMBADINA ONE ARM POINT
BROOME PORT HEDLAND YULE RIVER MUNJINA NEWMAN PERTH
WELCOME TO THE REFLECTION TOUR Tura New Music embarks on our 12th Northern Tour to the Kimberley and Pilbara, bringing international quality art music to regional centres and remote communities. It is a great privilege to be welcomed into these communities to share the unique cultural and musical combinations that these tours enable. We most gratefully thank all those communities along with our donors, sponsors, funders, presenting partners and an army of individuals for their commitment and generosity – all coming together to make this tour possible. Finally our hugest thanks to the musicians for sharing their creativity, stories and energy. We look forward to each day of the tour and meeting you all along the way.
Tos Mahoney ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, TURA NEW MUSIC
ITINERARY & PROGRAM Reflection brings together two Indigenous musical icons, William Barton and Stephen Pigram, with some of Australia’s finest instrumentalists for a program of music that reaches across cultures, time and place. This unique combination of artists present sounds and songs as old as time alongside new stories of country and passion. This is a brand new program created in collaboration with some of Australia’s most internationally renowned musicians, coming together for this tour as the Narli Ensemble: guitarist Stephen Magnusson, violinist Erkki Veltheim, percussionist Ron Reeves and cellist Tristen Parr. Program Director: Tos Mahoney
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CONCERTS
SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY PROGRAM
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Wyndham Thursday 10 September
Wyndham 8–12 September
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Emma Gorge Saturday 12 September
Kununurra 13–15 September
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Kununurra Monday 14 September
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Beagle Bay 16 September
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Lombadina Saturday 19 September
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One Arm Point 17 September
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Broome Monday 21 September
Djarindjin & Lombadina 18–19 September
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Port Hedland Thursday 24 September
Broome 20–22 September
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Munjina Saturday 26 September
Port Hedland 22–24 September
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Newman Sunday 27 September
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Perth Tuesday 29 September
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Yule River 25 September Newman 27–28 September
THE ARTISTS
Stephen Pigram
William Barton
GUITAR/UKULELE/VOCALS/HARMONICA
DIDGERIDOO/VOCALS
Stephen Pigram, an indigenous folk musician from the pearling town of Broome, Western Australia, performs vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, ukulele and dulcimer as part of folk/rock septet The Pigram Brothers.
William Barton is widely recognised as one of Australia’s finest traditional didgeridoo players and a leading didgeridoo player in the classical world after growing up surrounded by many forms of Indigenous and contemporary music. He is also a teacher and composer for the instrument committed to enhancing the instrument’s profile to a wider classical audience and other music genres.
As lead singer and songwriter Stephen and his brothers opened the Deadly Awards at the Sydney Opera House and bought home the Deadly Award for Album Release of the Year (2006). In the same year, Stephen and brother Alan Pigram were the first indigenous artists to be inducted into the West Australian Music Industry’s Hall of Fame. The Brothers’ latest CD release Under the Mango Tree was nominated for the Best World Music Album ARIA Award. As part of Kuckles, another Broome-based band, Stephen was heavily involved in Broome’s famous musical theatre productions Bran Nu Dae and Corrugation Road. The Pigram Brothers’ debut album Saltwater Country was voted best debut album at the National Indigenous Music Awards. Stephen’s solo album Wanderer released in 2013 marks a new direction in the artist’s long career.
Born in Mt. Isa in North Western Queensland, William was taught the instrument at an early age by his uncle, an Elder of the Wannyi, Lardil and Kalkadunga tribes of Western Queensland. William has appeared at music festivals around the world and with symphony orchestras and has also recorded a number of orchestral works. William is Australia’s first didgeridoo artist in residence with the Queensland Orchestra. In 2005 William performed with the Queensland Orchestra and one of his own pieces for orchestra and didgeridoo was premiered at the In-Studio Series at ABC Ferry Road Studios Brisbane. www.williambarton.com.au
Stephen Magnusson
Ron Reeves
GUITAR
PERCUSSION
Stephen Magnusson is considered one of Australia’s most accomplished, versatile and distinct musicians with incredible technique and an astoundingly beautiful tone. His hectic schedule shows that he is a delight to work with and someone that has ‘something to say’ in the world of improvised music. Winner of the Australian Jazz Bell Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album with his quartet MAGNET (with Carl Pannuzzo, Eugene Ball and Sergio Beresovsky), Stephen is currently concentrating on writing for his duo Boundaries with Frank DiSario, and trio MAG featuring DiSario and Dave Beck.
Award winning percussionist Ron Reeves was a founding member of Synergy, and performed with the Sydney Symphony and other orchestras in the seventies.
He has worked with many artists including Charlie Haden, Meshell Ndegeocello, Ricki Lee Jones, Sinead O’Connor, John Cale, Gurrumul Yunupingu, Paul Grabowsky, Vince Jones, Katie Noonan, Lisa Young, Christine Sullivan, Michelle Nicole, Martin Breeze, The Assumptions Trio, Megan Washington, Paul Kelly, Jim Black, Mike Nock, Barney McAll, Enrico Rava, Arthur Blythe and many others. www.mag.net.au
He later studied and taught in Indonesia for many years, and also studied Carnatic percussion in South India. Ron has played rock, jazz, world music and more, and represented Australia in World Drum Festivals both here and abroad. He has performed with Bill Cobham, Trilok Gurtu, Hossam Ramzy, Toni Childs, The Supremes, AC/PVC, Karnataka College of Percussion (India), Jugala Group (Indonesia), Lebe Olarinjo Masqueraders (Nigeria) and many more. As well as percussion Ron performs and records on guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, didgeridoo, blues harp, and various flutes and other winds. He has recently returned from studying tarogato and furulya (traditional wind instruments) in Hungary.
Errki Veltheim
Tristen Parr
VIOLIN
CELLO
Erkki Veltheim is a musician and interdisciplinary artist, and Artistic Associate of Chamber Made Opera. He has performed with ensembles such as Australian Art Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Elision and Ensemble Modern, and has also featured as a soloist with London Sinfonietta and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with and composed arrangements for artists including Black Arm Band, Gurrumul, Shane Howard, Tom E Lewis and Zulya, and as an improviser has worked with Australia’s leading practitioners, such as Anthony Pateras, John Rodgers, Jon Rose, Scott Tinkler and Tony Buck. He appeared as an on-stage musician in the Belvoir Street production of The Diary of a Madman, directed by Neil Armfield and starring Geoffrey Rush, and on-stage electric violinist in Brett Dean’s opera Bliss. Erkki has been commissioned by Adelaide Festival, Vivid Festival and New Music Network, and his compositions have been performed by ensembles such as London Sinfonietta, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Soundstream Collective and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He frequently collaborates with Sabina Maselli on audiovisual performance and expanded cinema projects. Erkki was a recipient of a 2013 Myer Creative Fellowship.
Tristen Parr is a versatile acoustic and electric cellist specialising in contemporary performance and sound design for theatre and dance. He has toured extensively throughout Australia, Canada, North America, Asia and Europe and has recorded for radio locally, nationally and internationally. Tristen is a founding member of the award-winning group Decibel New Music Ensemble who specialise in electro acoustic music performance and the development of new electronic score formats. As well as freelance engagements Tristen also divides his time between silent film band Viola Dana, noise duo HzHzHz, and the band Fall Electric. Tristen is a founding member and sound designer/ composer of the arts collective PRAXIS who will present their first full-length dance work Dark Matter in September 2016. He has composed scores for works by Yirra Yaakin Theatre, AIVDT, Buzz Dance Theatre, Louisville Ballet, LINK Dance Company, Barking Gecko, Praxis Collective, CANWA, Weeping Spoon, and has contributed to sound design for PTC and Black Swan STC as well as film and advertising soundtracks. Tristen has won numerous WA music industry awards and in 2013 was nominated for a Helpmann Award for best music direction.
SPECIAL GUESTS Stephen ‘Baamba’ Albert*
Bardi Dancers**
GUITAR/VOCALS
The Bardi Dancers are a traditional male dance troupe comprised of elders and future leaders of the Bardi nation. Originating from the Ardiyooloon Community (One Arm Point) in the north-west of Western Australia, Bardi Dancers have performed nationally and internationally.
Born and bred in Broome, Stephen “Baamba” Albert well and truly has his roots in the Kimberley region. His professional career began in 1968 with the band Broome Beats. Leaving Broome for a while, Baamba eventually became the inaugural Chairman of the National Aboriginal Education Committee in Canberra. Back in Broome in 1980 he went on to star in the smash hit musicals Bran Nue Dae and Corrugation Road as well as numerous other roles in television, film and stage including with Mary G, SBS drama series The Circuit and presenter of the Bobtales TV series. Baamba is currently also Chairman of the Broome Aboriginal Media Association as well as Director of BAMA ISX Pty Ltd.
Tos Mahoney FLUTE
The other side of Tura’s Artistic Director that got him into all this trouble in the first place is his passion for playing, creating, improvising. Part of the early ’80s improv set in Perth and across Australia, Tos has had a long collaboration with WA composer/improviser/ Ruined Piano officianado Ross Bolleter resulting in many recordings published as Alone Together and Desert Air. Tos has a special passion for the northern Tura Tours that he initiated and has curated over the past 10 years for the unique combinations of artists and connection to community they have created.
They are keepers of traditional culture and stories, through song and dance. Their style is very distinctive. They are salt-water people who perform with intricate totems depicting coastal life and traditional hunting practises, handed down orally and visually from generation to generation – a strong example of living culture in contemporary society.
Albert Wiggan** Albert Wiggan is a Bardi and Nyul Nyul man from the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome. He is an accomplished singer/guitarist/actor performing his own unique style of Peninsula music. Albert Wiggan’s songs reflect sea eagles and traditional canoes.
Paul Boon and George Bishop*** Broome Didgeridoo legend Paul Boon (soon to Tour Australia with Hugh Jackman) joins with George Bishop’s enchanting guitar playing. Paul has a long history of collaborations from local highlights with Clifton Biendurry in Groovylips to globally with Nomad Two Worlds and many more. Paul has been a stalwart of Broome and Kimberley music and a long-term collaborator with Tura. * BROOME AND PERTH CONCERTS ** LOMBADINA CONCERT *** B ROOME CONCERT
TURA NEW MUSIC Tura New Music Ltd is a not-for-profit arts organisation based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1987, Tura has a proud history of achievement in initiating cultural development in Western Australia from inner city to remote communities . We support, advocate and ignite new music and sound art in collaboration with artists, our partners and audience members. With a fresh, edgy and professional perspective, we provide the means, support and opportunities that enable the relentless pursuit of musical discovery.
Board
Gavin Ryan | Chair Simon Dawkins Robyn Johnston Liesbeth Goedhart Justine Lawler Rod Campbell
Personnel
Tos Mahoney | Artistic Director Annalisa Oxenburgh | General Manager
Tour Personnel
Guy Smith | Production Manager AUM | National PR Consultant Chil3 | Event branding and design Carly Filby | Social Media Consultant Gabrielle Sullivan | WA Media Consultant Liesbeth Goedhart | Development Consultant
Tour Volunteers
Holly Masterman Louise Mapleston Josiah Lulham
Contact
Tura New Music Ltd WA State Library Perth Cultural Centre Western Australia 6000 info@tura.com.au +61 8 9228 3711
WITH THANKS Tura New Music thanks the following organisations and individuals for their support of the 2015 Reflection Tour.
Wyndham Annie Irvine Jenny Connaughton Alan Pardoebell The Rusty Shed The Post Office Wyndham District High School
Amanda Cordner Mangrove Hotel Glyn Batten Richard Fanshawe Kimberley Performing Arts Council Susie Quicke Paul Boon
Emma Gorge
Port Hedland, Yule River, Munjina
El Questro Wilderness Park Lori Litwack Jason Barber Gavin Scott
Kununurra Ivanhoe Farms Kununurra Visitor Centre Susanne and Darryl Smith Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley Waringarri Arts Centre Cathy Cummins Kununurra Senior High School Ed McNeil Susie Williams Sue Cottle
Dampier Peninsula Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation Lombadina Aboriginal Corporation Darrell Sibosado Brian Lee One Arm Point School Kooljaman Christ the King School, Djarindjin/Lombadina Sacred Heart School, Beagle Bay
Broome Nyamba Buru Yawuru Ltd Broome Visitor Centre
IBN Group Tony McCrae Jaylan Smith Lorraine Injie Town of Port Hedland Veronica Clarke Matt Dann Theatre and Cinema Brad Holder Jess O’Dea Orontide Mark Okeby Arianne George Amy Helm Pilbara Ports Authority Lisa Halpin Port Hedland Senior High School Ibis Styles Jason Green Auski Roadhouse
Newman Shire of East Pilbara Pip Parsonson Tiriki Harare
Perth Octagon Theatre Hannah Parker David Hobbs
TURA DONORS Tura thanks the following for their philanthropic support of the 2015 program
2015 Tura Travellers Irene Lawson and Brendan Kissane Elizabeth Gherardin Helen Symon & Ian Lulham Clare McArdle
2015 Tura Donors Diamond Donors Carl Erbrich Platinum Donors Ros and Ian de Souza Gold Donors Bux Family Charitable Trust Vanya Cullen Silver Donors Zelinda Bafile Rod and Kay Campbell Peter Connaughton Jeremy Feldhusen Liesbeth Goedhart Alan Lamb and Kate Lowe Margot Nelson Darryl Mack and Helen Taylor Mark and Rose Okeby Gavin Ryan Simon and Jenny Yeo Bronze Donors Michael Bradshaw Simon Dawkins Hon. Peter Dowding and Benita Dowding Anneke Pearton Deborah Protter Tracey and David Renshaw Dr Jan and Cath Resnick Stephen Scudamore
Tura100 Donors Kylie Ashenbrenner Fred Chaney Mark Coughlan Simon Dawkins Chris Dale Sally Everist Nancy Fox Liesbeth Goedhart Heather Grauag Lelia Green Kim Hawkins and Monique Atlas Penny Jamrack Kate Johnston Robyn Johnston Neil Kavanagh Duncan Ord Annalisa Oxenburgh Donna Plunkett Stuart Reid Bryn Roberts Margaret Seares Deborah Young To support Tura’s programs go to tura.com.au
Tura’s annual programs are supported by the Government of Western Australia through the Department of Culture and the Arts in association with Lotterywest and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
The 2015 Reflection Tour is curated and produced by Tura New Music. Tura gratefully acknowledges GOVERNMENT FUNDING PARTNERS
MAJOR PARTNERS
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
MEDIA PARTNERS
AIRLINE PARTNER
ACCOMMODATION PARTNERS
PRESENTING PARTNERS
tura.com.au