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Every weekday lunchtime enjoy free, live entertainment in Garema Place. Monday 11 February Varna Folk Dance Ensemble (Bulgaria) The world-famous Bulgarian cultural institution Varna Folk Dance Ensemble performs their romantic and lyrical dances for Australia. Gervais Kofti & The African Diaspora (Ivory Coast/Sydney) Having packed in the crowds at major festivals and clubs across Australia, Sydney-based bass player Gervais Koffi originally came from Ivory Coast in West Africa. With is band African Diaspora Gervais presents a visual show with African dancing and percussion segments, as well as tasty Latin and Caribbean Zouk influences. Time from 12pm to 2pm Tuesday 12 February Shaanxi Province Song & Dance Troupe (China) From the home of the Terracotta Warriors, brings opulent reproductions of music and dances from the 3000-year-old Tang Dynasty. Nakshi Kanthar Math (Bangladesh) This stunning Bangladeshi dance troupe re-enact a tragic love story based on a poem by Jahimuddin Ahmed and set in rural Bengal. Goyam Kula Dance Troupe (Sri Lanka) One of Sri Lanka’s finest dance troupes, Goyam Kulu Dance Troupe presents a rhythmic and mystical performance from southern Sri Lanka. Collegium Folkrum (Serbia) From Central Serbia, Collegium Folklorum return to Canberra with their explosively colourful dance and music performances. Time from 12pm to 2pm Wednesday 13 February Collegium Folkrum (Serbia) From Central Serbia, Collegium Folklorum return to Canberra with their explosively colourful dance and music performances. Nakshi Kanthar Math (Bangladesh) This stunning Bangladeshi dance troupe re-enact a tragic love story based on a poem by Jahimuddin Ahmed and set in rural Bengal. Goyam Kula Dance Troupe (Sri Lanka) One of Sri Lanka’s finest dance troupes, Goyam Kulu Dance Troupe presents a rhythmic and mystical performance from southern Sri Lanka. Time from 12pm to 2pm Thursday 14 February Nakshi Kanthar Math (Bangladesh) This stunning Bangladeshi dance troupe re-enact a tragic love story based on a poem by Jahimuddin Ahmed and set in rural Bengal. Goyam Kula Dance Troupe (Sri Lanka) One of Sri Lanka’s finest dance troupes, Goyam Kulu Dance Troupe presents a rhythmic and mystical performance from southern Sri Lanka. Collegium Folkrum (Serbia) From Central Serbia, Collegium Folklorum return to Canberra with their explosively colourful dance and music performances. Time from 12pm to 2pm Friday 15 February Lolo Lovina Sydney-based band Lolo Lovina fuses Eastern European gypsy music, Irish folk, Latin salsa and rock into one high-octane performance. Parana (Central & South America/Sydney) The Sydney-based Parana group takes audiences on an intoxicating musical journey through South America’s ancient Incan culture. Time from 12pm to 2pm
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Remembered This great German soprano who died in August 2006 was beloved throughout the world. She was the definitive interpreter of the music of Mozart, Strauss, Wolf, and Schubert and her performances and recordings have become legendary. In this tribute, Canberran soprano Louise Page will sing some of Schwarzkopf's most popular repertoire from opera, operetta and Lieder, and talk about her life (including Page's own experience studying with Schwarzkopf). She is accompanied by Phillipa Candy on piano. Date and Time Saturday, 9 February at 7.30pm Handel’s Friends and Foes Australia’s best baroque performers present a concert of music by Handel, Telemann, Mattheson, Bononcini, Scarlatti and Geminiani. Salut! Baroque’s concert for the 2008 National Multicultural Festival focuses on George Frideric Handel and his friends and foes. Reference books often mention Handel’s life-long friendship with Telemann and his great rivalry with Bononcini. But perhaps we are fortunate to know anything at all about Handel after he was nearly killed at the age of 19 by his friend Mattheson in a sword duel after an on-stage altercation! In a later duel, this time a musical one, Domenico Scarlatti was judged the better harpsichord player, while Handel was triumphant on organ. Date and Time Tuesday, 12 February, 8pm Mexican group De Muse is a contemporary ensemble of musicians concerned with exploring and exchanging new paths of musical interpretation. Their repertoire ranges from original written material, to modern jazz compositions. The improvisations influenced by the rich traditions of Mexican and pre-Hispanic music create their exciting and unique sound. Miguel Soto plays drums and percussions, alongside Juan Castanon on guitar. Date and Time Sunday, 10 February from 2 to 4pm We Don’t Need Another Euro! So you thought all the big hits emanated from the US or the UK? Well, you’re about to discover just how many of them began their lives as European musical gems. In their own distinctive style, Shortis and Simpson dig out the original versions and the stories behind them. Hear You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, You’re My World, Those Were the Days, The Carnival is Over, My Way, Gloria and many more morph back to their original form. Can you resist a big cheesy ballad? Or quirky story-telling mixed with humour and extraordinary singing? A musical treat in which Russia meets Italy meets Greece meets France meets Germany meets Spain meets Bungendore meets Canberra. With surprise guests. Book now and……..’ne regrette rien’! Date and Time Wednesday, 13 to Saturday 16 February, 7pm nightly, Saturday 16 February matinee and high tea, 2pm This year’s impressive line-up of Australian-based World Music acts includes the percussive beat of drumming trio Circle Of Rhythm, Afro-multicultural sounds from Gervais Koffi & African Diaspora, tropical dancing from Mauritian group Jalsa Creole, high-spirited Gypsy-swing from Lolo Lovina, and the electro-didgeridoo of Tjupurru.
Born on the Ivory Coast in West Africa, Gervais Koffi grew up in the thriving, multicultural capital city of Abidjan, where his musical career kicked off in the late 1980s. Koffi arrived in Sydney in ‘98 to spread his infectious music to the people of Australia, and put together his multicultural band African Diaspora with members hailing from Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, Mauritius, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. A superb bass player and vocalist who breathes life into any performance, Koffi has also appeared with multicultural groups Global Roots, Marsala and Tambacounda, and has proven to be an ideal person to help introduce the music of West African and the French Caribbean to Australian audiences. Having packed in the crowds at major festivals and clubs across the country, Gervais Koffi and his African Diaspora present a visual show with African dancing and percussion segments, as well as Latin and Caribbean Zouk influences. Date and Time part of the Lunchtime Showcases and The Fringe Festival, Sunday, 10 February at 9.15pm TopFormed in 2004 with an all-Mauritian-born line-up, Sydney-based group Jalsa Creole brings an authentic Indian Ocean vibe to its performances, demonstrating the irresistible groove of the national dance of Mauritius—the Sega (pronounced Say-gah). The word Jalsa means “party” and the band’s songs are performed in the French Creole language. Jalsa Creole have proved to be crowd favourites at Womadelaide, Sydney’s Café Carnivale and Bellingen’s Global Carnival. The history of tropical Mauritius—situated almost 900 kilometres east of Madagascar—brought together colonial influences from Portugal, Holland, France and Britain. Sega originated during the French period, with its roots in the pulsating rhythms that the African slaves brought to the island. Mauritians of all backgrounds now claim the Sega as an exciting expression of their modern multicultural nation. With instrumentation including the ravane, a circular frame drum, and the maravane, a wooden-framed shaking board filled with stones or dried nuts, it’s the perfect accompaniment for the Sega dance itself—which starts with a gentle swaying of the hips and a gradually increasing tempo, followed by the graceful dancers propelling themselves into an ecstatic frenzy. Date and Time part of the Food and Dance Spectacular and The Fringe Festival, Saturday, 9 February, 9.30pm TopWith members from Romania, Hungary and Brazil, hi-octane Aussie band Lola Lovina claim influences from Eastern European Gypsy music, Irish folk, Latin Salsa and heavy metal! Only formed last year, this electrifying and technically impressive Sydney-based group brings together some very exciting individual talents. Lead singer Sarah Bedak-Rockliffe has a truly captivating voice and has been surrounded with Gypsy music from an early age, as she comes from a Hungarian Romany family (her grandfather was a well-known Budapest violinist). When not working with Lolo Lovina, whirlwind violinist Jess Randall fronts her own outfit, The Crooked Fiddle Band, while bassist Rodrigo Salgado hails from Brasilia and has featured prominently in a number of bands and theatre productions. Romanian accordionist Leonid Beshei grew up in Bukovina and has played Gypsy Jazz across the USSR, as well as performing in philharmonic and folkloric orchestras in Ukraine and Moldova. Guitarist David Carr performs in a variety of jazz, classical and world ensembles, while fellow guitarist/banjo player Matthew Baistow has a keen interest in Irish, Eastern European and Gypsy Swing Jazz. Date and Time part of the Lunchtime Showcases and The Fringe Festival, Friday, 15 February at 9.30pm TopDidgeridoo performer Adrian Fabila Tjupurrula (aka Tjupurru) is a proud descendant of the Djabera Djabera tribe of the West Australian Kimberleys. Born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, his early didge career was strongly influenced by the music of Charlie McMahon’s Gondwanaland. Tjupurru’s “Didjeribone” can slide through different notes and tones—a cross between a didge and a trombone. With the addition of electronic effects and a wry comedic attitude, Tjupurru performs as a virtual one-man band, creating live samples and looping them to create songs and soundscapes that criss-cross music genres. On his ’07 debut EP “Stompin’ Ground” Tjupurru produced an incredible didge version of the Dr. Who theme as well as songs from Deep Purple and James Brown! Now based in Brisbane, Adrian is a community leader within the Northside Murri community. Giving workshops and performances at Queensland schools and remote indigenous communities, he is a positive community role model for local indigenous and non-indigenous musicians and artists. Date and Time part of the Food and Dance Spectacular and The Fringe Festival, Friday, 8 February at 11pm TopA passionate Brazilian singer, Sydney-based Jeanne Bastos is originally from Bahia, and performs the wondrous songs and rhythms of her homeland. She began her career in music contests and dance halls in Bahia, whose capital Salvador is one of the liveliest centres of music in the world. In the 1970s Afro-Bahian popular music sprang to life, spreading through the dynamic initiatives of percussion groups like Olodum and Timbalada, led by Carlinhos Brown, with whom Jeanne toured around the world, including the 1995 Montreaux Festival. Now permanently settled in Australia, Jeanne leads her talented band through an exciting repertoire that includes both well-known Brazilian classics and original songs—from the gentle bossa nova to the fever of samba, all sung in Portuguese and performed with fire and passion. Date and Time See them during Carnivale!, Saturday, 16 February TopMeet the band that has knocked Sydney's Latin music scene into a new shape. Make no mistake, this is music to raise the dead, drive the lethargic to the dancefloor, and derange the healthy with the irrepressible urge to turn somersaults in the air. Since formation, Matanza's popularity has been building steadily, with a dedicated posse of followers. The band’s founder and saxophonist Paul Chenard has compiled an incendiary set-list that ensures that the audience is never allowed to rest. Combining Afro-Cuban jazz with Brazilian funk, Matanza performs music that is technically proficient, irresistibly danceable and great fun. Hot, hot, hot! “Matanza played with an energy that didn't let up all night! The line up - a who's who of Sydney's Latin Jazz fraternity - steamrolled through a sizzling repertoire of the hottest dance tunes to come out of the Afro-Cuban songbook, punctuated by sophisticated Latin breaks, chugging Brazilian Samba and downright sexy funk.” – Diaspora World Beat Date and Time See them during Carnivale!, Saturday, 16 February TopLed by Salvadorian musician Reinaldo Portillo-Castro, Parana perform traditional Andean music, along with contemporary South American sounds. Utilising guitars, panpipes and charangos, Parana’s repertoire includes music from Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador. Having played at World Music festivals from the UK to China, the group's members take audiences on an intoxicating musical journey through South America's ancient Inca culture. Date and Time See them during Lunchtime Showcases and Carnivale!, Saturday, 16 February and The Fringe Festival, Friday, 15 February at 8.30pm TopFollowing an extended stay in Cuba, Greek/Macedonian percussionist Lazare Agneskis returned to Melbourne in 2002 was determined to put together a band that could recreate the pulsating rhythms and raw swing that he had encountered in Cuba. With other members of the nine-piece group having had similar travel and music experiences across Cuba and South America, San Lazaro was born. Already a vital presence within Melbourne’s spirited Latin scene, San Lazaro fuse the basic ingredients of reggae, hip-hop and cumbia, combining their powerful Latin rhythms with funky horns and MC rhyming into one steaming salsa soup. Reflecting the group’s united cross-cultural heritage—which includes Chilean, Spanish, Indian, Mauritian, Iranian and Australian bloodlines—the band’s ‘06 debut release was entitled “Mestizos Urbanos” (urban people of mixed race). “When I hear San Lazaro I become a dancing fool!” – Paul Kelly Date and Time See them during Carnivale!, Saturday, 16 February TopHeralded as Australia's most exciting rhythm trio, Circle of Rhythm is Greg Sheehan, Bobby Singh and Ben Walsh, and between them they have changed the face of Oz percussion. A dynamic group with a difference, Circle of Rhythm’s original repertoire is rich in cultures from around the world, which all three percussive performers have spent their lives exploring. From the high-energy, fast-paced drumming of Japan and Polynesia, to the ethereal and spiritually uplifting sounds of India, this ensemble boasts a full spectrum of styles and instrumentation that will delight your senses. Both melodic and rhythmic, Circle of Rhythm were the surprise hit of Womadelaide ’07, and their debut album “Metrical” pays homage to multicultural Australia, melding a collection of global styles together in a masterful way that is truly modern, yet highly respectful of ancient tradition. Expect a powerhouse of razor-sharp and precision beats—percussion of the highest order! Date and Time See them during The Fringe Festival, Friday 8 February at 9.30pm and The Food and Dance Spectacular, Saturday, 9 February TopA quartet of exceptional musicians, Skorba performs the ancient music of Malta. With a theme of cultural unification, Skorba offers a fusion of ancient and modern Greek, Turkish, Arabic and European music that is a unique representation of the historical cultural influences on Malta. Skorba is a collaboration founded in 2005 by Andy Busuttil (vocal, percussion and wind instruments) and John Robinson (oud, tamboura and percussion). Both veteran players, Andy was a key member of Nakisa, Xenos, Drum Arabic and Rivero, while John has been part of Davood Tabrizi’s Far Seas, Baklava and The Renaissance Players. The talented line-up also includes Bertie McMahon on bouzouki, acoustic bass and waldzither (related to the lute and mandola), and Sirocco’s Paul Jarman on sax and flute. Date and Time See them at the Food and Dance Spectacular, Saturday, 9 February and Contact Canberra, Sunday, 10 February TopA YouTube sensation, The Chooky Dancers are a group of 10 energetic young Aboriginal men who had healthy living in mind when they choreographed their performance of Zorba’s Dance. They have adapted some contemporary Aboriginal dancing styles to the Greek music in a most entertaining way and the video footage of their performance has featured on Youtube in Australia and in Greece as “Zorba the Greek: Yolgnu Style”. They also do a Bollywood style performance! The dancers are Yolgnu people and live on Elcho Island near Gove Peninsula. They are managed by Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy whose son Lionel is the lead dancer in the group and whose daughter has a strong connection to the Greek community. Date and Time See them at the opening night of the Fringe Festival, Friday, 8 February in Civic Square, and during the Food and Dance Spectacular, Saturday, 9 February
Travel South America in sound, with an entertaining and interactive performance by Papalote, a group of versatile musicians led by Justo Diaz of Sydney’s Café Carnivale. Papalote enraptures audiences young and old with their amazing range of music. This show is ideal for families. Papalote have performed at schools and festivals around Australia, presenting their own unique and lively expression of all types of South American music. Their one-hour show, From Zamponas to Synthesizers, sweeps across traditional Andean, Brazilian, Salsa and Caribbean music, and along the way demonstrates both the old and new instruments of the South American continent. Join in the dancing and singing, plus there are opportunities to try some traditional instruments. Experience both the ancient sound of the Aztecs and the up-tempo rhythms of the Latin American music of today, live with Papalote! Date and Time Saturday, 16 February at 2pm |
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