Tura's 2017 Echo Tour Program

A Musical Celebration Mark Atkins Stephen Pigram Bart Willoughby Narli Ensemble and special guests 7– 28 September 2017 Wyndham Kununurra Warmun Halls Creek Fitzroy Crossing Yardoogarra Bidyadanga Beagle Bay Djarindjin Lombadina One Arm Point Broome Perth

Welcome

Program

The Echo Tour brings together leading Aboriginal artists Mark Atkins, didgeridoo/vocals, Stephen Pigram, singer/guitarist and Bart Willoughby, vocalist/percussionist, sharing through music their stories of country, history and passion.

This is a program of original new music created in collaboration with some of Australia’s finest musicians, coming together for this tour as the Narli Ensemble: cellist Tristen Parr, violinist Erkki Veltheim, guitarist Stephen Magnusson and flautist Tos Mahoney.

As well as collaborations with local artists, some concerts include Traditional Owner Joonba (dance/song), with the Perth finale featuring several of the local Kimberley artists.

New songs, new works and new arrangements feature in a program grown out of these creative collaborations, reflecting the Kimberley communities and landscape travelled through.

Ever evolving, full of spontaneity and life – Echo.

Tura New Music embarks on our 14th Northern Tour to the Kimberley, 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, energy and generosity.

We look forward to each day of the tour and meeting you all along the way.

Tos Mahoney Artistic Director Tura New Music

Artists

Mark Atkins

Stephen Pigram

Didgeridoo/Vocals/Guitar

Guitar/Ukulele/Vocals/Harmonica

Acknowledged as one of Australia’s finest didgeridoo players, Mark Atkins is also recognised internationally for his collaborative projects with some of the world’s leading composers and musicians. A descendant of Western Australia’s Yamitji people, as well as of Irish/Australian heritage, Mark is known not only for his masterly playing, but also as a storyteller, composer, percussionist, visual artist and instrument maker.

Mark has incorporated the didgeridoo sound into some unlikely musical environments, adding its primal pulse to orchestral works, theatrical productions and dance presentation.

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.

As a regular collaborator with Philip Glass, Mark co-wrote Voices for didgeridoo and organ with Philip Glass for the inauguration of the newly refurbished Melbourne Town Hall organ, performed for the Sydney and Melbourne seasons of Naqoyqatsi and toured with Glass’ Orion.

Mark’s solo work Grungada has toured Australia, France and Hong Kong. He is a founding member of performance ensemble Black Arm Band.

Mark is a prolific instrument maker, creating and painting didgeridoos from logs that he collects in the bush near his home in Tamworth, New South Wales. Exhibitions of his traditional and contemporary visual artwork have been shown in Japan, Europe and the United States.

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.

Bart Willoughby Vocals/Percussion

Pioneering Indigenous performer Bart Willoughby first came to prominence in the late 70’s in the Band No Fixed Address. Born on the Koonibba Mission in Ceduna, South Australia, a Pitantjatjara man of the Kuthatha tribe on his father’s side and Mirning through his mother. No Fixed Address were the first indigenous band to tour internationally and sign a record deal. Subsequent bands included Coloured Stone and Mixed Relations in the 90’s.

Willoughby has continued to travel Internationally and nationally promoting his music and culture with The Black Arm Band. He also performs both as a solo artist and with The Bart Willoughby Band.

Willoughby is an inductee of the South Australian Music Hall of Fame and recipient of the Inaugural Aria Life Time Achievement Award for his contribution to Indigenous Music. In May 2016 he recorded in The Bungle Bungles with Stephen Pigram releasing the Album Resonance in 2017.

Stephen Magnusson

Tristen Parr

Errki Veltheim

Tos Mahoney

Guitar

Cello

Violin

Flute

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.

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.

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.

As well as being Tura’s Artistic Director, Tos Mahoney has a special passion for the Northern WA Tours that he initiated and has curated over the past 15 years. He has a parallel passion for playing, creating and 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 aficionado Ross Bolleter resulting in many recordings published as Alone Together and Desert Air.

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.

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.

Across the decades he has also collaborated as a performer with the likes of David Moss, Jon Rose, Jim Denley, Amanda Stewart, Catherine Schieve and many other Australian and international artists.

Over the last 30 plus years Tos’s role as Artistic Director, curator and arts advocate has seen the initiation and roll out of a whole raft of projects and programs across Western Australia.

A highlight of all that output is Tura’s annual Touring Program with its unique combinations of artists and connection to community they have created.

Guest artists

Bardi Dancers 6 Originating from the Ardiyooloon Community (One Arm Point) the Bardi Dancers are a traditional male dance troupe comprised of elders and future leaders of the Bardi nation.

John Bennett 5, 7 & 8 Guitar/vocals From the remote country where sea meets desert, Western Australia’s John Bennett has emerged as a singer/songwriter with an astounding ability to transport listeners to his home country and transcend cultural barriers.

Paul Boon 7 & 8 Didgeridoo Broome based Paul Boon is a self taught Didjeridoo performer. Paul produces and performs for The Nomad Two Worlds Project. He recently recorded didjeridoo for a collaboration with International DJ/ producer Paul Oakenfold and worked with Keith Harris, a Grammy award winning producer for The Black Eyed Peas.

1 Kununurra 2 Warmun 3 Fitzroy Crossing 4 Derby 5 Bidyadanga 6 One Arm Point 7 Broome 8 Perth

Ngarinyman Dancers 1 Alan Griffiths paints significant features and cultural stories of the land. Together with his wife Peggy Griffiths, he is dedicated to teaching traditional dances to his community and family. Alan is a respected law and culture man for both his traditional country near Timber Creek and for Miriwoong culture in Kununurra.

Gabriel Nodea 7 & 8 Didgeridoo/vocals Warmun artist, musician, cultural leader. ‘I paint what I dream. I do contemporary painting about the Dreaming and what I dream, in accordance with the Dreamtime connection and history of my Mother’s people, Gija people.’

Danny Marr 3 Vocals Famed Fitzroy Express founder and leader, Danny’s song writing and guitar work formed the basis of the band, the lyrics are about his and the Kimberley lifestyle.

Bunuba Dancers 3

Naomi Pigram 6 & 8

Bunuba country extends from Fitzroy Crossing north along the Fitzroy River to Jijidu (Dimond Gorge), and follows Miluwindi (King Leopold Ranges) to Napier Range in the west. It includes Bandilngan (Windjana Gorge) and Tunnel Creek national parks. The southern extreme extends from Malarabah (Erskine Range) to Dawadiya (Trig Hill) near Fitzroy Crossing, and includes Danggu (Geike Gorge).

Guitar/vocals

Gija Dancers 2 “Everything from Ngarraggarni (Dreaming) to real life events are kept alive in our traditional archives, and that archive is our joonba. Within that we always have our wirnan systems, of sharing and caring, accompanying us on our journeys.” Gabriel Nodea

Naomi Pigram is a saltwater child and songwriting prodigy. Her songwriting is confronting, gritty: laced with the coal-face reality of life in a western Kimberley town.

Susie Quicke 7 Vocals Singer songwriter Susie Quicke has been performing since 1994.

Originally from the tall timbers of the South West she now lives with open skies and endless horizons of the Kimberley, inspired by a lifestyle close to the environment.

Act-Belong-Commit Standing Strong Together with Tura New Music and the Echo Tour.

The Kimberley region is a truly unique and awe-inspiring part of Australia.

A melting-pot of histories and cultures, the character of this place is not replicated anywhere else on earth.

The Program offers opportunities to make a significant contribution to the social, cultural, educational and community lives of people living in regional centres and remote communities of northern Australia. Tura presents this cross-cultural journey bringing the city to remote Australia and remote Australia to the cities. With performances in exotic remote locations, the tour weaves a rich tapestry of uniquely Australian music.

The Kimberley region holds immense cultural value for its Traditional Custodians – the songlines here have remained uninterrupted for thousands of years. There are around 30 distinct Aboriginal language groups in the Kimberley.

Start

“ You can smell the saltwater breeze and see that red dirt swirling.”

Mojowire

Schools and Community Workshops

Concert Program

Echo is privileged to travel through this country.

Wyndham

Broome

Wyndham

Thursday 7 September Wyndham Picture Gardens

Tuesday 26 September Mangrove Hotel

Thursday 7 September

Kununurra

Perth

Friday 8 – Monday 11 September

Saturday 9 September Kununurra Picture Gardens

Thursday 28 September Perth Concert Hall

Warmun

Warmun Tuesday 12 September

Halls Creek

Tuesday 12 September Warmun Art Centre Grounds

Wednesday 13 September

Halls Creek

Fitzroy Crossing

Wednesday 13 September Shire Park

Yardoogarra

Fitzroy Crossing Thursday 14 September Fitzroy Crossing Oval

Bidyadanga

Finish

Kununurra

Friday 15 September Monday 18 September

Bidyadanga Tuesday 19 September

Beagle Bay

Tuesday 19 September Bidyadanga Oval

Wednesday 20 September

One Arm Point

Thursday 21 September

Friday 22 September One Arm Point Oval

Djarindjin & Lombadina One Arm Point Thursday 22 September

Broome Monday 25 September

Tura

Thanks

Based in Perth, Western Australia, award winning Tura New Music is a producer and an advocate for new music and the sonic arts. Founded in 1987, Tura has a proud history of achievement in initiating cultural development from inner cities to remote communities across Australia. We support, advocate and ignite new music and sound art with a fresh perspective. We provide the means, support and opportunities that enable the relentless pursuit of musical discovery.

For the past 16 years, Tura has been touring new music to regional Western Australia.

Tura has built long-lasting relationships with regional, rural and remote communities, creating vital and sustainable programs with workshops, concerts and cultural exchanges.

Board Gavin Ryan | Chair Rod Campbell Simon Dawkins Liesbeth Goedhart Robyn Johnston Helen Symon Justine Lawler

Personnel Tos Mahoney: Artistic Director Annalisa Oxenburgh: General Manager Alice Strang: Development Manager Tristen Parr: Program Manager Anna Sparkes: Marketing and Administration Coordinator Tour Personnel Guy Smith: Production Manager Clancy Travers: Technical Assistant AUM: National PR Consultant Chil3: Event branding and design Peach and Pineapple Co: Perth Media and PR Consultant Liesbeth Goedhart: Development Consultant Film Documentation: Mark Jones, Deborah May and Petris Torres Photography: Bohdan Warchomij Media Assist: Patrick Turnbull Contact Tura New Music Ltd Subiaco Arts Centre 180 Hamersley Road Subiaco Western Australia 6008 info@tura.com.au +61 8 9228 3711

Tura New Music thanks the following organisations and individuals for their support of the 2017 Echo Tour.

Wyndham Wyndham Picture Gardens Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley Annie Irvine Moh Pieter Westerbeek Mark and Sheree Timms

Bidyadanga Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community Inc La Grange Community School Tania Baxter Arina Aoina Eco Beach Resort

Kununurra Waringarri Aboriginal Arts Kununurra Picture Gardens Kununurra Visitor Centre Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley Kununurra Writers Festival Carolyn Gasmier Natika Hawes-Wright Cathy Cummins Kununurra Senior High School Ed McNeil Susie Williams Joanne Roach

Beagle Bay Beagle Bay Community Inc Sacred Heart School Lyla Forte Erin and Steve Arrow Arrow Pearls

Warmun Warmun Arts Centre Stephanie Rajalingam Carmen Ansaldo Gabriel Nodea Mirrilingki Centre Ngalangangpum School Shire of Halls Creek Shire of Halls Creek Halls Creek District High School Jungarni-Jutiya Indigenous Corporation Halls Creek Visitor Centre Margaret Glass Jake Hay Fitzroy Crossing Shire of Derby West Kimberley Fitzroy Crossing District High School Fitzroy Crossing Visitor Centre Belinda Storer June Oscar Josh Schroeder Harriet McBride Jane Pederson Patrick Davies

Djarindjin and Lombadina Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation Lombadina Aboriginal Corporation Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation Christ the King School Brian Lee Darrell Sibosado Helen Moneta Kooljaman One Arm Point Ardyaloon School Ardyaloon Inc Jeremiah Riley Wasi Daley Ashleigh Pearce Mark Batka Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm Penny Arrow Broome Nyamba Buru Yawuru Ltd Broome Visitor Centre Mangrove Hotel Glyn Batten Chris Maher Susie Quicke Paul Boon Mel Virgo Christa Poole Perth Perth Concert Hall Brendon Elmer Penny Briffa Vanessa Woolley Brad Matthews Becky Chilcott Betty Joy Richards

Tura Donors

Tura Partners

“Australia has to learn the value of culture.

It is about the quality of our experience of lives lived through dreams dreamed.

TURA makes this available for all Australians, particularly those most in need of it.

This brave organisation represents an investment of infinite returns.”

Paul Grabowsky AO

Tura Travelers

The Tura Travelers program offers high level Tura Donors the opportunity to experience the wonders of our annual Touring Program embedded with the touring artists and crew.

Seeing the country, meeting the people and hearing the music is a once in a lifetime experience.

Contact Alice Strang development@tura.com.au

Tura’s annual programs are supported by the Government of Western Australia through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries in association with Lotterywest and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

The 2017 Echo Tour is curated and produced by Tura New Music.

Tura New Music gratefully acknowledges Major Partners

Tura Donor Circle Tura thanks its 2017 Next30 Leadership Donors: Ambassadors Irene Lawson and Brendan Kissane

Supporting Partners

Visionary Anonymous Champions Carl Erbrich Debra Knight Joan Spiller Helen Symon Shane and Gabrielle Tregillis Pioneers Bux Foundation Zelinda Bafile Katrina Chisholm Norman Dennis Elizabeth Fong Elizabeth Gherardin Guy and Belinda Leclezio Kate and Gavin Ryan

Media Partners

Presenting Partners

To support Tura’s programs go to tura.com.au

Wyndham Picture Gardens, Kununurra Picture Gardens, Kununurra Visitor Centre, Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, Warmun Arts Centre, Warmun Community Inc, Jungarni-Jutiya Indigenous Corporation, Halls Creek Visitor Centre, Nindilingarri Cultural Health Services, Marninwarntikura Fitzroy Women’s Resource Centre, Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre, Mara Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation, Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency, Fitzroy Crossing Visitor Centre, Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community Inc, Bidyadanga Community Art Centre, Ardyaloon Inc, Broome Visitor Centre

tura.com.au