She says she’s a behind-the-scenes person in the arts, which is probably why not everyone knows her name.
But everyone has very probably indeed been somewhere at something which bears the hallmark touch of our Cabaret Fringe Festival’s new producer.
Simone DiSisto is a creative producer, a designer, an educator, a storyteller, a copywriter, a techie and, if the circumstances call for it, a dogsbody. She embodies the whole shebang of the performing arts.
Her hand has been behind the production of concerts, WOMAD events, comedy shows, kids’ culture, and all over the logistical scenes of Edinburgh Festival productions.
She has stepped into the CabFringe role because it was there, and she was there. She was assistant producer to legendary producer Lauren Thiel in 2023 so she not only knows the ropes but knows everyone involved in knotting and bow-tying them.
Not only but also, as a visual arts teacher at Marryatville High, she knows a huge stretch of the upcoming generation.
Now, aged forty-three with one thirteen-year-old child plus nine-year-old twins, she sees herself as a model Gen Xer, one who has moved through the world between analogue and digital eras.
“Technology and the world changed in our lifetimes,” she explains.
We have had to learn things on the go. But we are a generation which has the grit.”
And “grit” is important to Simone DiSisto.
She’s come through life learning one has to do the things one has to do to pay the bills.
She’s a Port Adelaide girl, through generations on her dad’s side albeit her mum’s family came from Perth.
A few years in Wudinna did not change her attachment to the Port, or the generational family tradition of teaching. She attended Woodville High. With her dad, the distinguished sportsman David Mundy who played baseball for Australia, she was surrounded by cricketers and the spirit of Australian sports. Her dad still has an influential hand in baseball. He’s a lifelong role model to her and her siblings. One of those, Troy Mundy, has carved his own significant role internationally in the physical art of dance. This Adelaide dancer, now with business degrees under his belt, presently resides in Dubai.
Remaining in Adelaide, Simone talks of “the beauty of being a local”.
Simone is deeply committed to arts and entertainment in her hometown, to the various shades which make up cabaret and the amazingly ingenious and alluring venues in which cabaret may be performed.
“South Australia is great to grow up in, fabulously immersive in so many arts”.
Venues are one of Simone’s “things”.
She sees relationships with venues as a pivotal, and also joyful, part of her new role, one underscored by decades of working the gigs with entertainers.
She cites that genius comedian Micky D as lifelong bestie and potent influence through early Edinburgh fringes and beyond.
It all has imbued in her a love of seeing the faces of audiences and a feeling for “diverse arty spaces”.
And, of course, as a local who has been a part of the ever-evolving arts, she adds a respectful nod in the direction of the late beloved Frank Ford, father of the CabFest and also its audacious offspring, the Cab Fest Fringe.
“The Cabaret Fringe attracts beautiful audiences,” she enthuses. “It is like what the Fringe used too be. It is just the right size. People book for several shows."
Among the sprawl of entertainment options this year is, of all things, Peter Goers’ stage production of Noel Coward plays, Cowardy Custard at Holden Street Theatres. Some hundred other performances are programmed, from drag to dance to comedy to concerts. There are Libby Trainor Parker, Cossack dancers, She Shanties, Gay Bingo, burlesque, jazz, circus…
And wonderful venues, such as the Arthur Art Bar, the Howling Owl, the Gatsby Lounge, the Grace Emily, and even in its swan song, My Lover Cindi.
Simone thrives on finding and liaising with all these venues since she’s an organiser, among the many other things for this multitasker.
There is a secret to her boundless involvements: “I’m neuro-divergent,” she laughs. “I have ADHD. It’s a bonus in the arts. I can keep going and going and going.”
She also has a can-do spirit with which she fearlessly tackles new challenges in technology. She was brought up that way.
It all comes back to those favoured terms, “grit” and “learning things on the go”.
Another is “transferrable skills” and “playful problem-solving".
Hers is the ability to adapt and improvise, to make the most of what you find and work miracles on a shoestring, and glow with positive spirit.
No wonder, from her time doing IT, ticketing projects, and software solutions at Carclew, this versatile, rising arts identity earned the nickname “Disco Tech”.
Samela Harris
CabFest Fringe runs from May 24 to June 2 all over town.
The full program is to be found at: cabaretfringefestival.com
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Murray Bramwell with Ian Scobie and Annette Tripodi. 20 Feb 2024
As WOMADelaide 2024 draws closer, Murray Bramwell talks to Director, Ian Scobie, about bringing in the new and keeping the familiar.
“Things are going pretty well. Touch wood” As always Ian Scobie is taking early soundings in late January. He has been involved with WOMADelaide for all of its 32 years. Right back to 1992 when APA was formed and Festival director, Rob Brookman negotiated with WOMAD UK’s Thomas Brooman to bring World Music artists to a weekend festival in Botanic Park as part of the 1992 Adelaide Festival.
From what now seems a modest (but brilliant) beginning, WOMADelaide, with its wonky portmanteau name, has become an annual music juggernaut. The last four years have been a testing time. As for all events, public and private, COVID has loomed large, caused havoc to our lives, and made planning ahead almost impossible.
My conversations with Scobie and Associate Director Annette Tripodi over that time have focused as much on whether the festival would go ahead at all, let alone what the program might be.
“I look back at 2023”, Scobie reflects. “We were staring oblivion in the face in terms of COVID. People saying big events are dead. People will be worried about crowds (more worried about queues as it turned out!) The commentary, particularly in the Eastern states was that everything was going to be different. All kinds of predictions.”
“WOMAD 2023 was the first major event in the country to have a full-scale international program since COVID. We were fortunate in our timing in 2020, we got through by a whisker before, two weeks later, the whole world shut down – or borders anyway. In 2021 we had a different something. It was a series of concerts in King Rodney Park which provided a popular Australian program - and a safe space.”
“By 2023 I thought we needed to throw the kitchen sink at the program. It had to be unmissable. We brought back Gratte Ciel with Place des Anges [the aerial spectacle of inflatables and feathers]. People loved that. It was recognisable. We also needed to reach out beyond our usual loyal audience, because some people might not come because of the pandemic. As it happened, everybody came. There were more people than we bargained for.”
So going into 2024 Scobie and his team were dealing with small, but emphatic, choruses of disapproval about the 2023 experience. Complaints about toilet queues and the drop-in entourages of popular performers. Florence & The Machine attracted huge crowds on the Saturday night and for many the experience was overwhelming. WOMAD is a highly ritualised event. It has a familiar topography and although the music is continually changing the vibe has stayed the same. That is why it is a festival with 30 year-plus longevity. It is dynastic. Those who came first as children return as adults and parents. It has always had a contingent of the over-60s- and well over that, as well.
“There were people who wanted the small boutique event they’d come to love,” Scobie observes. “And then their spot wasn’t available because there were too many people – that kind of sense of privilege, I suppose, that some audiences can develop. It is both a plus and a negative. “
“The ethos of WOMADelaide is that of the Adelaide Festival itself. You ensure the best possible circumstances for the audience and the artists to connect. And that’s not in a barren field or in a hot car park. It is about finding a space that is lovely for the artists as well as the audience. One that has an impact on both. As you enter the park, you are saying- ‘Ah’… You feel the change.”
“After a now 33-year history of that connection with Botanic Park, going into 2024 we didn’t want a sense of repeating. It wasn’t about not having artists like Florence, or taking it back to its roots, or whatever. But it’s about having an eclectic program that extends from the variously known, to the unknown, to as far around the planet as you can find - and inviting the audience to come and discover them. That goes right back to 1992 when people knew some names – like Crowded House – but also many artists [Sheila Chandra, Youssou N Dour and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan] people would never have come across otherwise. That sense of musical and cultural discovery is intrinsic to it. “
“And so far, sales are really positive. We are not at the madness of a year ago - when we were nearly sold out by January! But we are looking at a good capacity and response to the program has also been very positive.”
One change people can expect is the layout of the park. “We have reconfigured the layout quite a lot. It’s been on the cards for a while for a number of reasons. It came to a head last year because of capacity issues. But what’s happened is that, over time, the trees have grown and there is less space; not for the people, but for the stalls and infrastructure. We want people to come and have a park experience not an ‘industrial’ experience. So how do we find more green space for people?”
Solutions were sought with various permutations – moving stalls and the Kidzone. Some plans were different but no better. Scobie and the team have opted for a market strip along Plane Tree Drive – part of the rationale being to improve crowd circulation. The Zoo Stage will be moved to allow more people and elevated for better sightlines. There will be significantly more toilets– and wardens to direct traffic to vacant facilities to ensure efficiency of flow, so to speak.
Also, because the amazing crowd for Florence pushed way back into the trees, clearer walkways (lit for visibility) will mean easier and better-defined access through the throng at busy times.
As for the program, Scobie is particularly pleased with the strolling park street theatre entertainment which he describes as one of the most extensive lists so far. French company Cie L’Immediate will explore levitation, South Korean company Mul Jil will present Elephants Laugh, a study in immersion, and, each day, Handspring Puppet Company, in collaboration with our local company, Slingsby, will parade their giant creations for all to enjoy.
Gratte Ciel will return with their aerial choreography in Rozeo and another highlight will be Streb Extreme Action. Founded by Elizabeth Streb in 1985, the ensemble brings a mix of gymnastics, dance, and extreme sport. They are also presenting Time Machine later, in the final week of the Adelaide Festival.
Another Scobie pick is Omar Rajeh/ Maqamat with Beytna (meaning “home”) featuring four choreographers and four musicians from Lebanon, Japan, Palestine, and Togo celebrating hospitality and food and shared life experiences.
Always significant in the WOMAD program are First Nations musicians. Scobie mentions Wildfire Manwurrk from Arnhem Land, singing 80s rock riffs with lyrics sung in ancient languages from before invasion. Rob Thomas, Dean Brady and new talent, Noongar artist, Bumpy will all perform. From the region come Maori performer A.Girl, and T’Honi, (also from Aotearoa), Tio from Vanuatu and Ju Ben from Fiji.
Women feature prominently in WOMADadelaide yet again. Portguese fado singer, Marta Pereira da Costa will perform twice, Irish musician Sharon Shannon will bring her Big Band, Tunisian Emel Mathlouthi returns, and UK singer-songwriter, Corrine Bailey Rae. Brooklyn based and Pakistani born, Arooj Aftab will be keenly anticipated, as will much admired Australian musician, Jen Cloher.
I asked Associate Director, Annette Tripodi for her tips this year. These include Som Rompe Pera, a group of former street musicians from Mexico, the Mauskovic Dance Band from the Netherlands, whom she describes as an “irresistibly dancey, slinky sound “, and from Zambia, WITCH, making their Australian debut . Also getting special mention is the intriguing Moonlight Benjamin from Haiti/France, Tripodi describes her as having “a raw brooding presence, a genuine vodou princess who says she sings to heal people.”
There are many musicians that promise to captivate us. UK Jazz drummer, Yussef Dayes has a brilliant, versatile band. Dayes’ marvellous 2023 solo release, Black Classical Music, with its echoes of Mwandishi Herbie Hancock and early Weather Report, is surely destined to become a new jazz classic.
From the recent past come Jose Gonzalez, the prolific Nitin Sawhney, and the enveloping trip-hop soul of Morcheeba
As always, the late Friday night spot (the traditional Nusrat Hour) will feature rich meditative performances – this time from sarod player, Pt Te Jendra Narayan and a violinist with a famous surname, Ambi Subranamiam.
For Ian Scobie, it is pleasing to be hosting some of the eminent musicians in the WOMAD family. Baaba Maal from Senegal will be majestic on Sunday night. Pioneer of the sixties Tropicalia movement in Brazil, seller of millions of records, and former Minister of Culture, Gilbert Gil’s Saturday night performance will also be essential attending. And, after repeated delays over more than four years, Ziggy Marley, scion of the legendary Bob, will headline on Monday night.
To conclude, Scobie wants to mention the Planet Talks speakers program produced by Rob Law. It features, among others, former President of Kiribate, Anote Tong, ex-senator and fearless eco-warrior, Bob Brown and whale scientist, Dr Vanessa Pirotta. Of the environmental talks, Scobie emphasises the need for persistence and hope – “The continuing journey to find carbon neutral answers, rather than ‘the sky’s falling in!’”
“How do you empower people?”, he asks, “constant crisis is not helpful.”
Ian Scobie then returns to talking about the power of music, its pleasures, and its reminder of the variety of the world. “We can’t live in perpetual crisis and outrage. We have to find a way through. Art and music and discussion help people to reassess the world and their place in it. “
As he would say- “touch wood.”
Located at Tainmuntilla/Botanic Park, WOMADelaide 2024 will run from March 8 -11.
Murray Bramwell
When: 8 to 11 Mar
Where: Tainmuntilla/Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
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She's known simply as Vonni.
Vonni Brit Watkins is Adelaide’s most vivacious transgender identity.
Indeed, she is the effortless essence of glamour.
She’s long been a popular pub and club DJ and tireless supporter of kindly and charitable causes.
It was Trevor Ashley, one of Australia’s great legends of drag showbiz who had the brainwave that Vonni could stretch those beautiful wings and take on some legitimate theatre.
He was casting the glittering Gold Coast Casino production of the musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert and he envisaged Vonni in the pivotal role of Bernadette, the wise transgender spirit of that now classic story. In the 1994 hit movie, the part was very memorably played by the great British actor, Terence Stamp.
Almost two decades later, Vonni flew through the stage audition and was whisked away to the Gold Coast for a two-month run in the wild Australian transgender musical.
It was a daunting and huge learning curve for the Adelaide performer, the first transgender artiste to play Bernadette.
Vonni cut her showbiz teeth strutting under the spotlights of the legendary Le Girls club in Sydney, starting out as a stripper in the 70s and then being tucked under the wings of Carlotta, Australia’s leading lady of drag burlesque. The two performers formed a strong bond back then and continue to be the closest of friends. Carlotta also was in the Queensland Priscilla cast and, in Adelaide, Vonni recently performed alongside Carlotta singing at The Regal. Just now, she has returned from Carlotta’s 80th birthday celebrations in Queensland to resume her place in the newly formed cast of another production of Priscilla, the Musical.
Vonni is starring with the G&S Society of SA in a brand-new staging of the rollicking musical version of Priscilla.
And she will be re-embodying wonderful Bernadette.
It is the meatiest and most serious role in the show. Not that it does not involve singing and dancing, neither of which Vonni claims as her strengths. Vonni’s strength lies in personality and beauty, along with a disciplined professional approach and a fabulous stage presence.
The story of Priscilla revolves around recently bereaved transsexual Bernadette travelling with two drag queens to a remote desert location to put on a classic drag show, lip-synch and all.
They travel through the outback from Sydney to Alice Springs on Priscilla, a lavender bus which is another star of the show. They stop here and there meeting all sorts of Aussies and having assorted adventures and turning on assorted routines in the most astonishing and spectacular costumes.
Vonni is finding working with G&S quite a contrast to the big-budget bling of the Gold Coast Casino.
But, despite its constraints as unfunded local theatre, G&S has a strong reputation for good work which is one of the things which attracted Vonni to working with it, as well as a recommendation from Kinky Boots star Mark Stefanoff.
“So, I Googled it and had a look,” reveals Vonni. And, she now notes, it is a company equipped with some stunning costume creators. Look out for the cupcake number, she tips.
There is new choreography for this show. Vonni praises choreographer Sarah Williams.
“Rehearsals are videoed, and I watch the work at home later to make sure I can get it right,” she says.
“Also, surprisingly, the lavender bus itself is much bigger than the one we had on the Gold Coast.
“Up there it was more like a combi and there is a line about where do you sleep and we’d laugh because there was clearly no room. This bus in Adelaide is an almost full-sized bus with cut out sides and top.”
The camaraderie of the G&S players has made a big impression on Vonni.
She says it is a part of the experience she loves most.
“And the way everyone pitches in and does things.”
“And there are some fabulous singers in the cast. I’m not a great singer but I can hold a tune."
And what tunes there are: I’ve Never Been to Me, Mama Mia, I Will Survive, and Finally.
This show, which is all Australian but has been presented all over the world, has played quite a significant role in its positive portrayals of LGBTQI+ characters and also in depicting the phenomenon of homophobia as experienced in outback towns by the travelling drag queens.
Its themes remain as relevant today as when the show was conceived by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott as a road trip jukebox musical.
The G&S production will be directed by Gordon Coombes and also stars Billi St John and Benjamiin Johnson along with Vanessa Lee Shirley, Bec Pynir, Lance Jones, Trish Hendrix, Nadine Wood, Damien Ralphs, Chany Park Hoffman, Charissa McCluskey-Garcia, and Danielle Greaves.
Jillian Gulliver is musical director and those wonderful costume mistresses are Ann Humphries and Helen Snoswell.
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert will play at The Arts Theatre from September 21-30.
Samela Harris
When: 21 to 30 Sep
Where: Arts Theatre
Bookings: trybooking.com
]]>Murray Bramwell talks with Director Ian Scobie and Associate Director Annette Tripodi about the rapidly approaching WOMADelaide 2023
Annette Tripodi is not really pondering the idea that WOMADelaide is entering its fourth decade. She is just pleased the current one has landed in the net. “It’s worth saying that the last three years have been so peculiar in that we never knew what the next festival would hold…”
COVID-19 has cast a long shadow over all of the performing arts and WOMAD has been no different. Back in 2020 the very beginnings of the pandemic were evident in March. Some Adelaide Festival artists arrived testing positive. Others hurriedly left the Fringe for home in the Northern Hemisphere, cancelling shows in the final weekend. WOMAD completed its full program just before borders closed and quarantine became mandatory.
For 2021 Ian Scobie and his crew came up with an inspired solution organising their four nights of outdoor concerts at King Rodney Park. With the socially distanced seating and masking requirements it set about being as safe as possible in an unsafe time. The shows were brilliant – Midnight Oil at their majestic best with their Makarrata Project, flanked by Sarah Blasko, the late Archie Roach, The Teskey Brothers , Tash Sultana and others. The sound was impeccable, and it was a rare experience to hear live music in a year when so much was cancelled and abandoned.
2022 saw a return to something closer to the festival of old. It was a substantially local line-up with many brilliant musicians – Ab Original , Cat Empire , Emma Donovan, Bush Gothic and Joseph Tawadros and the Melbourne Ska Orchestra to name a few . Paul Kelly presented a glorious set on the final night and other highlights, for me, included Springtime and Asteroid Ekosystem. It was a musical success and it turned out not to be a spreader event. And now for 2023.
“It’s kind of exciting and also terrifying” Tripodi observes “to be returning to our international line-up and also with our partner WOMAD New Zealand back on board. They’ve been absent since 2020. So we’ve almost forgotten how to do something on this scale and the way this has turned out, it’s a particularly high profile amazing one.
“I also think it was easier for it to come together than before the 2020 event because there were conversations we were having with artists for some years. There was a rolling list. Some we were asking before 2022- if we were able to bring internationals are you available and interested? But there was so much uncertainty about borders opening that we couldn’t make decisions three months in advance- it was terrible for planning.
“We had artists like the Garifuna Collective from Belize, with whom we’d been speaking for years, delayed by the rolling pandemic. For San Salvador (from Southern France) the delay was both pandemic and personal – two couples had just had children and weren’t travelling at all. ADG7 the South Korean pop/folk sensations were also on the list. That’s just to name three. All classic WOMAD artists who’d never been to Australia. They are sensational live and each is unique. It’s such a buzz . They are not actually here yet – but it’s looking exciting.
“I’m sure all the artists in the 2023 line-up will have a million stories about things that went wrong, things that were made challenging for them in the last couple of years.”
The pandemic has certainly had its impact on logistics. Tripodi notes:
“Just in an operational sense it is harder to get the travel routes and flights you want. A small example is that Emirates, they were an airline we used a lot – you could fly a group from Paris to Dubai to Adelaide. It was simple, affordable and great for the artists . There are now no direct flights.”
I also asked Ian Scobie about concerns getting artists and their luggage (their valuable, often rare instruments) safely, and all at the same time, to Adelaide. While sparing a thought for the pressures on airlines in the new order, he described some precautionary strategies they have used:
“Even before passengers there is freight. We did get all (the feathered angels aerial theatrics company, Gratte Ciel’s) Place des Anges equipment into warehouses a couple of months ago to avoid any disasters of stuff not arriving. And we have arranged an extra rest day for artists, even for local interstate artists, because domestic schedules have been less reliable.”
“There’s always a concern for any artist,” Tripodi observes, “that their beloved instruments don’t arrive. So we look at ‘what ifs?’ - if a band’s specific specialist instruments don’t turn up, not guitars so much, but can we lay hands on a harmonium quickly ? So there are a lot of logistical challenges behind the scenes. But it’s fair to say that it takes longer, and costs more, to get somebody here than it used to.”
Another new complexity has been created by greater customs and immigration controls. Artists from some countries and airports now have to meet stringent biometric requirements. Passport holders from France – and Tripodi estimates there are fifty to sixty of them - now have to do fingerprinting in Paris before travelling, which is a new hurdle. There are also implications for artists from Cuba and Pakistan.
When we talk about the program Annette Tripodi lights up.
“We are absolutely rapt at the range of acts, the spread of countries and the ages and diverse appeal of the festival. Having Bon Iver on Friday night and Florence + the Machine on Saturday night is just out of this world. I never imagined we could pull that off in the same festival. We have spoken to Bon Iver for years and weren’t able to make it happen. It got deferred and deferred and then they contacted us and it was all on. And with Florence also it finally happened. They are outstanding live artists that suit our vibe but they will also bring in a whole new audience.
“There are great headliners among many others. It’s wonderful to have (WOMADelaide 1992 original ) Youssou N’Dour on Monday night and (the powerhouse Colombian band) Ondatropica on Sunday. “
So what are some of the gems in the program ? Tripodi starts with guitarist Justin Adams and violinist and vocalist Mauro Durante who will perform from their recent recording Still Moving. Adams has a remarkable CV which includes Tinariwen and Robert Plant. Durante has collaborated with CGS and Ludovico Einaudi.
The Korean band ADG7 Tripodi describes as “kooky high energy musicians who are not only danceable but bring folkloric shamanistic traditions and instruments.” Kocoroco, led by trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, also gets a mention. “It is great to see this evolution of Black jazz coming out of London, influenced by Afrobeat and other styles.”
Visiting WOMAD UK last year, Tripodi and Scobie caught up again with Rizwan Muazzam Qawwals. They are the nephews of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who first presented qawwali, this spellbinding Sufi devotional music, late at night at the very first WOMADelaide. It established a tradition at WOMAD. Many of us thought of it as “The Nusrat Hour.“ Often located at Stage Two or the Zoo Stage, it featured Indian and Pakistani virtuosi performing extended ragas and vocalisations, and became a feature of the many festivals which followed.
“We went to their first show in the UK “Tripodi recalls, “and they were amazing. But then their second show at 11pm on the final night was just transcendental.” They will perform in late night programming in Adelaide also.
The First Nations section of the program is also strong again this year. The NSS (Northern Sound System) Academy which nurtures and develops new talent, she describes as “going from stren
gth to strength.” This year inclusions are Aotearoa performer, Taiaha Ngawiki, aka Taiaha ‘The Weapon’ (who is now living in Aldinga) bringing a mix of hip-hop and Soul and R’n’B artists such as Otis Redding, Ray Charles and Nina Simone.
The other NSS selection is Dem Mob featuring, Elisha Umuhuri and Jontae Lawrie, from the APY Lands, who are the first young rappers to perform and record in the Pitjantjatjara language. Tripodi says they have evolved into a great band – “great rappers who are on the cusp of something even more.” They perform on Saturday; Taiaha has one show only on Monday.
Other First Nations musicians who feature this year include Ripple Effect, an all-women group from Maningrida in Arnhem Land. The frontline vocalists harmonise in five Indigenous languages as well as English. Also appearing on Saturday is Richard J Franklin, a Gunditjmara elder from south-west Victoria. A multi-talented artist and activist, Franklin is a musician, filmmaker, novelist, academic, playwright and songwriter who will bring much to the WOMAD program.
The Ailan Songs Project led by Jessie Lloyd, will perform, interpreting songs from the Torres Strait Islands, and Kee’ahn, whose single Better Things, struck an uplifting chord during the pandemic lockdown. She is a multiple award winner including the 2020 Archie Roach Award.
The leading First Nations dance company, Bangarra will perform on Friday night. Tripodi is especially excited: “It’s wild to think how far that company has gone since they last appeared at WOMAD. We’ve waited a long time to get the timing right for them and now it has happened again.”
“And on a personal level I’m really glad that Soul II Soul are featuring in the festival. They and Inner City were my two favourite bands when I was living in Sydney in the ‘80s! They were another pandemic delayed act and will bring a full band and support musicians – it will be great to have them on the main stage.”
Since the very first festival there has been a strong representation of women artists and this year is no exception. It is said that women hold up half the sky, and they will prominently hold up the day and night skies at WOMADelaide in 2023. It is a list as diverse as it is impressive. Sampa the Great from Zambia (and Australia) will perform one show – but that’s one more than in 2021, when she was scheduled for the concert series in King Rodney Park but was marooned in Zambia by pandemic border restrictions.
US country music singer-songwriter, Angel Olsen will feature her latest album Big Time, Madeleine Peyroux, with only one show on Monday, will draw on her wide repertoire, including her own works and those by Serge Gainsbourg, Leonard Cohen, even Charlie Chaplin. Queen of the banjo Abigail Washburn returns to Adelaide with her partner Bela Fleck, a banjo player of legendary standing. Their performances will be both charming and virtuosic.
Aurora will bring her Norwegian electro-pop and Yungchen Lhamo from Tibet returns. Since she last performed her Buddhist chants at the 1992 WOMADelaide, she has collaborated with Paul McCartney, Philip Glass and Sinead O’Connor. From Aotearoa NZ, acclaimed singer Ria Hall will perform on both Sunday and Monday with a set showcasing her vocal range, singing in English and Te Reo Maori.
And for the dance
crowd, the DJ list is impressive and women rule – Jaguar, Sister Nancy meets Legal Shot and Jyoty will all appear. Not forgetting Nightmares on Wax, GUTS ,and the drum virtuoso, Alexander Flood who, as a young child, first performed in a music parade at WOMADelaide.
Annette Tripodi has her favourites. “Florence is a powerhouse. Real World Records also told us about Bab L’ Bluz, they are a Moroccan Psychedelic rock outfit. Ian and I met them in the UK and they shared some South Australian wine with us! They are really young and fresh. Another great band is Kefaya with their powerful lead singer, Elaha Soroor . And where else do you see a woman from Afghanistan, leading what is essentially a rock band? She’s a pocket rocket. “
Constantinople, a Canadian project which featured at a previous festival with a program of West African themes, this year returns with In the Footsteps of the Rumi, focusing on the works of the 13th century mystic poet. The ensemble features yet another woman vocalist - Belgian /Tunisian singer Ghalia Benali. Tripodi’s list of favourites continues – Taraf de Calui, the newest incarnation of the Romany legends, Taraf de Haidouks, Ukrainian group Balaklava Blues (who will also be providing music for the Festival theatre work -Dogs of Europe) and, from Argentine, dedicated to the legendary master of tango, comes Quinteto Astor Piazzolla.
Reminding me of the mix that is WOMAD, Tripodi predicts a big following for The Proclaimers, supplying their singalong favourites and new material from their album drolly entitled, Dentures Out. And for those needing more Greetings from the New Brunette there’s Billy Bragg. The Lachy Doley Group’s Hammond organ rock set and Saharan guitar wizard Mdou Moctar and his band will be a likely crowd favourite also.
Armed with such a strong program this year, Ian Scobie is quietly confident. “It is bigger than we have ever done,” he notes with some amazement, “There are more than 700 artists – about a hundred more than previously. It’s big. We are coming back to the fore with an international program. We wanted to come back with a bang and provide a lift in the festival experience – especially to interstate people returning after a break.
We didn’t want people to be disappointed.
“I also wanted to re-connect with the 30th anniversary feeling. It wasn’t until 1993 that WOMADelaide became a standalone from the Festival. So we were keen to have a Wow factor and getting acts like Florence and Bon Iver contributed to that. It will bring in younger fans and those who have not been previously, as opposed to rusted-on fans who never miss. That’s always our intent with our programming. And you see it in the sales. The advanced sales are off the charts.” (At the time of writing all 3 and 4 day tickets have sold out, as have Saturday single passes)
Scobie also has his favourites. Place des Anges, Rizwan Muazzam Qawwals, Richard J Frankland, Meute, and Indian musicians, Pandit Ronu Majumdar and Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh, who were recommended as part of the long-standing Spirit of India programming project which is now supervised by WOMAD legend, the violinist, Subramaniam. Kronos Quartet, long time Adelaide Festival favourites, celebrate fifty years of performing with two performances at WOMAD. And, having Youssou N’Dour back, after being there at the very beginning”, Scobie smiles, “is also great.”
Pausing, Scobie turns to another part of the festival program.
“The debate over the Voice is equal parts enraging and encouraging and WOMAD has a place in that discussion. We will have a session in The Planet Talks and we will be supporting the Yes campaign, like we have with previous social issues – right back to health campaigns and AIDS messaging in the early ‘90s. It is important to have the right level of advocacy – not harping, but as part of a socially conscious cultural event.”
“The festival is like a child, it has a life of its own”, Scobie observes in conclusion. “It grows up and it’s off on its path. So many people have a view of the festival - and it is what is for them. They always go to this stage first or that food stall. It’s kind of a people’s tradition and it does remind me, as a small child growing up in Mildura, going to the Mildura Show- a country show. This wonderland that was set upon the Mildura Oval.”
“I had this sense of the social fabric and I think WOMADelaide has that resonance. A sense of continuity in the world, a sense of connectedness. So much else is going in all directions- the constant handsets and screens, people cut off in their separate realities. So the collective sense of WOMAD is special. “
WOMADelaide runs from March 10 to 13 at Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla, Adelaide.
Murray Bramwell
When: 10 to 13 Mar
Where: Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
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It was 28 years ago that we lay beneath the starlight in Botanic Park carried into a reverie as an ethereal voice rang through the gentle night.
It was a landmark WOMADelaide moment which people have called “indescribably beautiful”.
Now, this veritable lifetime later, it will need no efforts of description. It is to happen again. Live.
Yungchen Lhamo is coming back.
She is the acclaimed Tibetan singer of spiritual melodies, the bringer of peace and love, of beauty and calm.
Yungchen was, in fact, the special WOMAD choice of the music festival’s founder, Peter Gabriel and thus became the first ever Tibetan singer to perform at a WOMAD.
It set her on a life of touring, performing, and recording - from Carnegie Hall to the Lilith Festival. Living in Australia for a few years in the late 1990s was a further springboard for her career, she says, and brought her to WOMADelaide in 1995 and to recording Tibetan Prayer, which was to win an ARIA Award for Best World Music.
“So WOMADelaide has great memories for me,” she says.
She now resides in upstate New York and has been focusing on touring the USA while she works with the homeless and mentally ill with her One Drop of Kindness Foundation. After the release of her sixth album, Awakening, she has returned to the road - and WOMADelaide. Here she also will perform some of her forthcoming Real World Records album, One Drop of Kindness, and she will sing solo acapella and also with her band.
Critics have described her singing as “unearthly”, and “exquisite”. "Her voice has the power to stop time and makes everything else in the world fall away. Her voice transports you,” declared one reviewer.
Yungchen is innately modest.
“I am thankful to be able in some small way to increase awareness of Tibetan culture and the Buddhist teachings on awakening among many people around the world,” she says.
On the Sunday between her Saturday and Monday performances, she will be sharing with the people some culinary secrets In WOMADelaide's Taste the World session. “I will be cooking Tibetan vegetable momos along with tsampa and butter tea,” she confides.
Like most performers, Yungchen’s musical momentum took a blow from the Covid pandemic.
“Also my weekly visits to the homeless shelter,” she says. “I viewed the time as a two-year retreat at home, albeit learning to do Zoom meetings and one or two online concerts.
“I started making Tibetan jewellery while saying my prayers and put them up for sale on the One Drop of Kindness Foundation’s website, with profits from sales donated to Hunger Free America.”
Pondering the pandemic she reflects that in one way it brought a positive change.
"So many people came to understand that everyone and everything in this world is interdependent. In no time at all, one small outbreak of the virus in China spread to every country in the world and affected millions of people.”
Among her creative pleasure in recent years has been in writing a musical called You are Beautiful, I am Beautiful which she produced with a cast of people from her homeless shelter residents. It was even reviewed in Newsweek.
Her days are quietly busy, starting at 5am with prayers and meditation. Thereafter, writing, recording, liaising with musicians, agents, promoters, lawyers, and the media.
She does not do voice exercises but keeps to a good diet with lots of water toward maintaining a healthy body.
“Whereas many artists do vocal warm up exercises before they perform, I say prayers for everyone present: my fellow musicians, the stage crew, and audience. I and ask the higher beings to come and bless us all with their presence.”
Interestingly, she uses a mala, a kind of Tibetan rosary with 108 beads.
“Sometimes people mistake this for worry beads and tell me not to be nervous,” she says.
“I always just say ’thankyou’ because if I tried to explain what I was actually doing, they might think I was mad."
The happiness in her world is simply, she says, in waking up each and every morning and feeling joyful in having such a precious human life.
“And to reconfirm my motivation to do whatever I can during the day to bring health and happiness to all sentient beings."
Samela Harris
When: 10 to 13 Mar
Where: Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
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There he is, in home territory, Mumbai, sharply depicted against a pristine Zoom greenscreen.
But it does not take long for this Indian musician to transcend the cold efficiency of technology and convey a sense of ethereal beauty. And this is before he has even revealed, let alone played, his remarkable instrument.
Pandit Robu Majumdar has nothing less than a presence of magical good spirit.
He says that he is a happy man and happiness is a gift he is empowered to give, along with his music.
His instrument is a three and a half foot-long bamboo flute, called a shank bansuri, self-made by adding to the traditional flute to deliver lower and lovelier octaves than convention heretofore has enabled.
He calls it “conch”, inspired by the eerie beauty of the tones of the male conch shell.
He unwraps it from its protective sleeve and shows the join where he extended the traditional flute, laughing that a lot of flute bamboo had to die before he got it the way he wanted it to be.
This is his original instrument. He has more, of course, but this is his beloved prototype.
He raises it to his lips and plays, soft and low, a gentle timeless raga as never heard before.
The tensions of the day ease as one listens, immediately imaging how utterly dreamy and beautiful it will be to hear this music in the lyrical landscape of Botanic Park.
Pandit Robu Majumdar has played several WOMADs including the first one produced in 1997 by WOMAD founder Peter Gabriel in Reading, UK. He has not yet played Australia's and brims with joyful expectations.
One is not surprised when he reveals that George Harrison loved his serene fusion music - and doubtless this sweet man, too. Pandit stayed 15 days with Harrison at his Henley on Thames home back in the day, even helping George with his gardening.
Most significantly, Pandit was the disciple of the great Ravi Shankar, the greatest musician now or ever, he declares - “the Mozart of Indian music".
But it was his own father back in Varanasi where he was born who set the ball rolling. His father was not a performer. He was a doctor of homeopathic medicine and music was his hobby. When the boy Pandit dared to play with his father’s flutes, as if they were toys and broke some, his father, he says, did not beat him in anger. Instead, his father said that since he had broken five or six flutes, his punishment was for Pandit to practice the flute for five to six hours a day.
Pandit says he was an honest child and he actually did practice for all the hours, albeit that his schoolwork suffered. He’s still no good at maths.
But, he swoons, “It was the most beautiful punishment in the world.”
“It was such a beautiful punishment that I became a flute wallah.” And he laughs.
So now he, himself, is the great guru. Others have copied his conch concept and it makes him feel happy. He holds its copyright and he is content because the beautiful spirituality of his music will go on even when he is no longer here.
At 60, he says he still feels childlike and his innate joyfulness is the thing he gets to spread when he shares his music.
At WOMADelaide, he will have Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh joining him, performing all shows together. And he is looking forward to giving workshops.
WOMADelaide runs from the 10th to the 13th of March at Bontanic Park, in Adelaide.
Samela Harris
When: 10 to 13 Mar
Where: Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
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Post covid lockdowns and pre a predicted new wave, what we really need is laughter.
And who best can dispense this tonic?
The theatre, of course. Ever it has been the source of diversion. Hence the comedies being produced by Adelaide theatre companies with none funnier than Laughter on the 23rd Floor.
According to director David Grybowski, it is Neil Simon’s funniest play.
And Neil Simon wrote some very funny plays and scored more nominations for Oscars than any other writer.
"Laughter… is a love letter to television star Sid Caesar,” explains Grybowski. "Caesar was host of a variety skit show in the early 1950s, and along with Milton Berle and Jack Benny, one of the hottest properties in television. Sid’s Your Show of Shows was written and performed live every week!”
One of his writers was the young Neil Simon.
He was employed on a team which included some of the great comedy legends of our times - Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. What a school.
The play, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, is set in their comedy room.
"The play is so funny! “declares the director.
“Every character is a comedy writer! You are in the room with eight highly creative souls, jostling and kibbitzing for the best lines. It’s an ensemble piece, so there is a lot going on and plenty to look at.”
Since not everybody is familiar with the American milieu of the early 1950s, the production has gone to special measures to contextualise the script.
"In the lobby, there will be 40 minutes of the best of American 1950s television, movies and commercials, including skits featuring Sid Caesar,” explains Grybowski.
"The actors each tell a joke in character as their introduction to the audience."
Grybowski’s enthusiasm to direct the work had some roots in his own theatre experience in Adelaide. He’s well noted as an actor and one of the roles he has performed was this play’s Sid Caesar character, Max Prince, in a 2003 production directed by Judy Menz for St Judes Players.
"I can’t believe my good luck that nobody else has produced it in Adelaide up to now!” he declares. "What schmucks!"
He describes “the trick in directing” it is in taking to physicalising words on the page "into a visual feast”.
"No stone that might be hiding a good laugh is left unturned! “, says he.
"Working with my cast to wrench out the physical business that’s not even in the script was the most satisfying creative thing I’ve ever done. And I have my experience of performing with and being directed by the late great Matt Bryne to thank for that. He has been an angel on my shoulder throughout the rehearsals.”
As for the cast, Grybowski is effusive.
"Once you cast a play, you can’t imagine anyone else doing it.
"Gavin Cianci of musical theatre fame is our Max. Frank Cwertniak plays the head of the comedy team in an hilarious Russian sort of accent. Think Carl Reiner and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show playing similar roles. Chris Gun is an amazing physical comedy actor. Andrew Horwood as the hypochondriac is all chutzpah and soul. Tom Filsell and Anthony Vawser utilise their own idiosyncratic styles to create their complex characters. Jo Coventry has taken on the comic schtick with verve given her stand-up experience. Robert Baulderstone as the Neil Simon character is so sweet, you’ll want to run up on stage and give him a kiss. Lauren Weber once again shows there are no small roles in theatre. The ensemble interplay is so rich, you’ll have to see it twice. “
Then there’s the crew. Productions don’t make themselves. Despite program credits, audience members often don’t realise how many people are involved behind the scenes.
Grybowski explains:
"Supporting the performers is the exceptional theatre magic-making machine of The Repertory Theatre Company,” he enthuses.
“This includes hairdresser/props person Rebecca Jarrett, costume designer Gilian Cordell, lighting designer Richard Parkhill, publicist Laura Antoniazzi, set constructors Stanley Tuck and Barry Blakebrough – I can’t tell you how grateful I am!
“There are people running around, running things and getting stuff and helping out – Production Manager Penni Hamilton-Smith and Assistant Director Rose Vallen. Experienced Erik Strauts will be calling the shots as Stage Manager. And we are making a three-hour movie as well as a two-hour play.”
The list goes on.
"A big shout out to The Rep’s Ray Trowbridge who has been my co-creative and assembler of all the moving imagery we are going to show,” says Grybowski.
"It’s just astounding, but you know what? Amateur theatre is like this in Adelaide. Tons of it and full of energy and volunteers.”
They’ve all worked on this tonic in the Arts Theatre. Go on out and lap it up.
Samela Harris
When: 17 to 26 Nov
Where: The Arts Theatre
Bookings: trybooking.com
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Back to the Park: WOMADelaide 2022 Returns to Full Strength.
Director Ian Scobie and Associate Director, Annette Tripodi talk to Murray Bramwell about reclaiming and re-setting Adelaide’s favourite music event - despite the challenges of COVID-19.
WOMADelaide is turning thirty and what a year to have a milestone birthday. From its inception in 1992, when it formed part of Rob Brookman’s Adelaide Festival, this vibrant, richly diverse music event has captured this city and brought visitors and rusted-on fans from all over the country.
Based in the CBD in Botanic Park, WOMADelaide (with its slightly clunky portmanteau name) has become a defining part of the South Australian summer. Over thirty years we have seen it become an annual international event, consistent in quality and ever-expanding in its ambition.
But in 2021, as is so many ways both locally and globally, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Despite what we would now think of as low infection numbers, it was not possible to run large music events in the usual way. Many were cancelled, some never to rise again. Others, like WOMADelaide, were modestly amended to carefully distanced, seated concert events. The four nights in King Rodney Park were extraordinary, of course. Who wasn’t knocked out by Tash Sultana, The Teskey Brothers and, still in full throttle after all these years, Midnight Oil bringing a powerful message of Treaty and First Nations reconciliation.
Now, a year later, the pandemic situation is more complex than ever. We have (finally) high levels of vaccination but Omicron has brought unparalleled levels of infection, hospitalisation and mortality. Our contact tracing is kaput and, until recently, key medical supply shortages have made life needlessly hard for many. At the time of writing, however, Adelaide seems to be past peak infections and for the great majority the impact of Omicron has been temporary and receding. The Fringe has begun and the Festival is little more than a week away. Hopes are high but no one knows for sure how it will play out.
Meanwhile, WOMAD is back to its previous scale with a program spread across seven stages in Botanic Park and a list of performers as extensive and intriguing as ever. It is a bold return and while uncertainties inevitably abound, it has been meticulously planned for many contingencies.
Associate Director, Annette Tripodi first joined the WOMADelaide team at Arts Projects Australia in 1997. Her role evolved from there, beginning with responsibility for the Australian content and then, since 2009, she has been in charge of the overall program.
“The program planning started in May last year, “she recalls. “We picked up conversations with artists we weren’t able to bring in 2020 and 2021. That included Courtney Barnett who we have never had at WOMAD and is a tremendous performer. And Joseph Tawadros. He will be playing with the 52 piece ASO on the opening night. It is his fifth appearance at the festival. He has performed with his brother, with the Grigoryan brothers, as a solo and duo – all combinations. This orchestral project I can’t wait to see. Joseph has been living in the UK for some time and it wasn’t feasible to bring him over. But now we have this great event for Friday night. He’s an extraordinary musician, composer, and artist – working with Ben Northey as conductor“.
Tripodi also speaks proudly of a series of commissions and partnerships with Nexus producers, Farhad Shah and Emily Tulloch, which has gathered in acts such as Dhungala Baarka and ZOJ. Through the Melbourne based Music in Exile recording label and management group she has signed South Sudanese, now Australian based, performer Gordon Koang, as well as Chik Chika and the powerful eight piece Ausecuma Beats, a Cuban /West African style outfit reminiscent of famous WOMAD headliners such as Youssou N’Dour and Salif Keita.
Also, from the Music in Exile label, is Kenyan singer Elsy Wamayo, now resident in the Northern suburbs of Adelaide, who has developed through WOMADelaide’s talent development academy established last year in conjunction with the Northern Sound System project. Tripodi describes her as “going from zero to hero- she’s now a sophisticated, dynamic performer.” The academy has also developed such talents as the Ugandan dancehall performer, Sokel and the local Indigenous rappers, Sonz of Serpent.
Another act Tripodi is especially pleased with, is DJ Motez’s world premiere live show- his first venture away from his signature DJ work to include classical singers, a string quartet, and the composer himself on keyboards. He features on Saturday night. Also branching in a new direction is Italian singer, Carla Lippis and her Mondo Psycho – which Tripodi describes as “Spaghetti Western Italian meets dark hard-edge rock.”
While COVID border restrictions have prevented the usual interchange of artists between Adelaide and WOMAD Aotearoa New Zealand (which has a completely separate program when it resumes this year) there is nonetheless a significant group of Kiwi acts in the 2022 line up. The high energy outfit L.A.B whose blend of reggae, funk and electronica with soaring soul vocals is reminiscent of crowd favourites, Fat Freddy’s Drop, will feature on opening night.
San Francisco born -NZ resident, Reb Fountain will draw interest with her vocally impressive folk-punk sound. Her debut album captured serious attention and on Sunday night at WOMAD we will hear her perform her newest album, Iris. Unfortunately, COVID quarantine requirements have meant Troy Kingi has had to withdraw from the program.
“He and his twelve piece band would have had to isolate for ten days,” Tripodi notes. “With family commitments that was too long. This is the way things are with COVID- infections, close contacts. Just lately I’ve been working on potential replacements and back-ups. Also, groups doing only one show, agreeing to perform a second.”
Interestingly, with Australia opening more to international travellers, there are musicians touring here who are booked for gigs at WOMAD. Guatemalan born, Latin Grammy winner, Gaby Moreno will perform, as will Brazilian funk samba trio, Azimuth in combination with composer/producer Marcos Valle. Cedric Burnside from the R.L.Burnside blues dynasty will appear, and late Friday night, Detroit DJ Kevin Saunderson’s live show - Inner City.
In the folk realm, the aptly named Bush Gothic, featuring Jenny Thomas, will mix Welsh music and Australian bush ballad guignol. The Crooked Fiddle Band from Sydney not only features an array of esoteric instruments (we are talking here of the Swedish nyckelharpa and the 16th century cittern) but have been described as “chainsaw” folk. Comparing them to Elephant Sessions, Tripodi notes – “They have an amazing range, and can rock out in a very big way.”
The First Nations program has been a strong feature of WOMAD festivals for all of their thirty years. Tripodi is especially proud of the current list. Emma Donovan and the Putbacks and their most recent exceptional albums come first mind. Kutcha Edwards will make a welcome return. Newcomer Baarka, is a young Malyangapa, Barkindji woman from Western Australia who has fast become a name in the Indigenous rap scene.
The one and only Ab Original will return to acclaim and the five musicians of the Australian Art Orchestra will perform a new work entitled Hand to Earth. The young band, King Stingray will debut and Electric Fields return with a touring party of 26 including a choir and dancers.
Jamie Goldsmith and others who present the Welcome to Country are also designing the Climbing Tree at the Kidzone and Dancing Fire, an installation of flaming pylons in Frome Park where, each day, other Kaurna ceremonies will also be performed.
Other headliners include crowd favourites, the Shaolin Afronauts on opening night, The Cat Empire- festival stalwarts for nearly twenty years, delivering a final performance from their original line-up, Saints legend Ed Kuepper with his new entity Asteroid Ekosystem (including Dirty Three drummer Jim White) and, of course, closing the festival - the mercurial and always re-inventing, Paul Kelly and his band.
Annette Tripodi is pleased with the assembled program and is quick to observe that the festival is “back to full bottle – all the WOMAD activities – Taste the World, the workshops, Planet Talks and park activities. And the special new eighth stage for DanceNorth – presenting Noise: six performers and 100 drummers. Every day of the weekend.”
For Festival Director, Ian Scobie, 2022 is similarly a collision of circumstances. A milestone 30th year which is also in the most unpredictable part of the COVID pandemic.
“These are weird old times. I’m sick of saying that,” he notes drily. “But you’ve got to roll with it. We are back in the Park.
The biggest irony is that after all the effort we made to avoid international exposure, we are most confined by WA and New Zealand. We could have brought groups from Scotland and wherever as the rules presently stand.”
Scobie and his staff have been in constant, detailed consultation with SA Health over planning. And the decision to go ahead – back with the usual WOMAD model, was made in May last year. Scobie and Tripodi went ahead on programming and preparing for the COVID protection regimes that would be required. He recalls:
“Right through last year almost to Christmas, before Omicron, it looked like a lay down misere relatively speaking. All the case numbers were looking good. It was all based on vaccination numbers which were looking good (eventually!) but that all changed when Omicron brought another layer of uncertainty.”
Scobie is emphatic about COVID policies for the festival. “We were first to go out and say double vax requirement for entry and then the health advice was 12 years and over. Since the paediatric advice has been available, we are saying that children between 5 and 12 years must have had the first vaccination.”
When asked about the anti-vax contingent who are now excluded – his reply: “We have benefited more than we have lost. If you look at national vaccination rates, those who object are a small vocal minority.
“In the end, if you aren’t vaxxed – don’t come. We told the artists very early on that that was our policy and that clear proof of vaccination was required. We came out early, but it is standard for pubs and clubs in NSW. It’s a common ruling and, aside from anything, it is a duty of care for our artists and audiences. It’s what we say in our Planet Talks – follow the science ! Reason needs to prevail.”
Asked for his thoughts on 30 years of WOMAD he says it is a moment for congratulations to many people. “I must also say I am reflecting that the festival began in a different kind of pandemic- the AIDS pandemic and we had support from AIDS organisations at that point. Over the years there have been other global health crises around the world which also affected our programs.”
I asked Scobie what the milestone means in the history of the festival?
“Thirty years is half the age of the Adelaide Festival. I’m sure its longevity has a lot to do with the seeds planted by the original festival in this city and the receptiveness of an audience for an event like this. It shows –and especially in the pandemic- the extent of the feeling and regard with which it is held by its loyal audience. It is a big part of people’s lives – the event itself and participating in it. It is much more than the sum of its parts.
“It means different things to different people. Some might have met their future partner there, or got engaged, or just had a fantastic time. It’s in the life zeitgeist of the city and for generations of people. From those who were taken as kids by their parents, who now take their own children“.
“And when we have concerns about not being able to have international contingents, we have been able to fall back on the fact that what is important about the festival is the overall experience as much as the great headliners.
“Also, after thirty years, to have a program that is essentially locally based is a reflection of Australia in 2022, as opposed to 1992. I think about if we had to program back then with no artists crossing borders, it would have been a very different line-up. That’s a great thing – the depth of diverse material available in Australia now is so healthy and accomplished. And, in these pandemic times, it is important to be engaging so many Australian artists who’ve had it tough and are going to for a while yet.”
“Four weeks out, the logistical train is working as usual. There are issues with flights- schedules constantly change due to the airlines’ own staff issues and so on. It’s always a constant jigsaw. The thing this year is that the only constant is uncertainty!
“But ticket sales are quite a way ahead of this time in 2020 – our last full scale event. [This year, for COVID, the total gate number is set at 70% capacity.] Interstate sales are high – almost 30% from Victoria, 27% New South Wales and then 30% South Australia. I think this reflects that NSW and Vic have largely moved on in their minds. They have had their lockdowns and they are now out and doing it.”
At a time when no one has any real sense what COVID will bring next, even in two weeks or a month, Scobie and the WOMADelaide team have the continuing dilemma that faces anyone planning large social and cultural events. As he says with a tinge of weariness- “Our notion of the future has greatly altered“.
As we close our conversation he says- “I’ll see you in the Park.” I ask him if he will be riding his bike. “Of course,” is the reply. “I’ll take my bike, and my hat – and my mask.”
WOMADelaide will take place in Botanic Park from Friday March 11 to Monday March 14.
Murray Bramwell
When: 11 to 14 Mar
Where: Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
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Out of these difficult few years of negative, comes a resounding positive.
It is the Balkan Ethno Orchestra which is coming to Adelaide as a highlight of WOMADelaide 2022.
This 10-plus ensemble of authentic Balkan musical exponents is, indirectly, the very beautiful product of Australia’s immigration history.
It is made up not only of musicians born within the Balkan countries but of musicians born of parents who had immigrated from the Balkans to Australia. And, these Balkan-Australians represent all walks of life - from a speech pathologist and a nurse to a project manager and a carpenter.
They also represent all sorts of musical backgrounds, from rock to jazz. They play all manner of instruments. Some sing in choirs. Some of them are old friends from childhood. Some are married couples. Together, they form a tight-knit and specialist musical community - and the essence of the spirit of WOMADelaide.
Anja Curcic is a singer with the group and speaks for them about their formation and their imminent visit.
Anja is Australian-born, daughter of a Serbian mother and Bosnian father.
“I’ve been singing since I was a wee little bub,” she laughs.
She really found her heart in Balkan music when she was doing some online research “discovering my family roots”. In so doing, she discovered their music and has been delving into it ever since.
The other members of the Balkan Ethno Orchestra represent all strands of the Balkan countries - Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and, together, they are bringing ancient traditional music forwards so that, without losing its integrity, it opens up for a new world and new generations.
Since forming in 2019 and throughout the ensuing pandemic years, the orchestra has maintained a discipline of regular rehearsal.
“We usually hire a rehearsal space,” says Anja. “We have tried meeting at someone’s home but what with food and drink, when we get together like that, it can turn into a party.”
“But we do have a social life together. We are all friends, some from childhood. So we do socialise together. It adds to the chemistry of the music.”
The music is a serious business and, says Anja, the BEO musicians are working ferociously to be ready for WOMADelaide.
It is their first WOMAD experience but they have had some impressive exposure at Australian multicultural events including back-to-back performances over three days at the National Multicultural Festival in Canberra, the Serbian Festival Sydney, and also performing with world music legend, Amira Medunjanin on her tour down under.
“But WOMAD is big deal,” declares Anja.
“We are very excited. I don’t think it has really hit us yet.”
The BEO has a vision. It is the preservation of old Balkan songs.
“So they are not forgotten,” says Anja.
She explains that their vulnerability lies in the fact that traditional ethnic music has been passed on from generation to generation orally.
At the same time that the BEO preserves the songs, they also may make them their own,
“We can add contemporary genres and instruments to introduce this ancient music to a broader audience of all ages,” says Anja.
“We have in our group musicians of disco, country and rock and heavy metal backgrounds.”
Thus blending in to the timeless spirit of Balkan tradition music, some of it melancholy, much of it foot-tappingly ebullient, the orchestra has quickly gained traction on the Australian musical landscape and last year it released its first EP.
“It is called Zora which means ‘the dawn’ - and isn’t that apt for us,” declares Anja.
Indeed.
One can have a taste of their wonderful sounds here: YouTube
Samela Harris
When: 12, 13, and 14 Mar
Where: Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
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