2019 - Desert SongQuartet, with NT vocalist and actor Yoris Wilson in the main role. Also on the program is the preview of the Olive Pink Opera by Anne Boyd ‘Alchera-Jugulba’,

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1 0 G L O R I O U S D AY S O F M U S I C I N S E P T E M B E R

ALICE SPRINGS • 6-15 SEPTEMBER 2019

Find yourself @ DSF

THE LINE-UP2019

SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIRMain Attraction

Friday 13 September 10.00am @ Soweto Gospel Choir WorkshopThe Marian Centre of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School

Saturday 14 September 3.30pm & 7.30pm @ Soweto Gospel Choir Freedom Concerts-Araluen Arts Cultural Centre

The Soweto Gospel Choir, winner of the 2019 Grammy for Best World Music Album for their latest album - Freedom - is the Main Attraction at Desert Song Festival this year. In a Central Australian Première and supported by the NIMA Award-winning Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, they present two amazing concerts based on their award winning Album comprising songs that celebrate and commemorate South Africa’s democratic movements struggle for freedom. This three-time Grammy Award-winning Choir has been spreading sheer joy to audiences across the globe for nearly two decades with their powerful blend of African gospel, freedom songs, and international classics.

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THE CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL WOMEN’S CHOIR

Friday 6 September 5.30pm @ Parade of Performers and ApertureSaturday 7 September 10.30am Soiree & 5.30pm Desert Voice @ Whitegums

Sunday 8 September 5.15pm @ Sacred SongThursday 12 September 6.30pm @ Alchera-Jugulba

Friday 13 September 6.30pm @ Under The Southern CrossSaturday 14 September @ Soweto Gospel Choir Freedom Concerts

Sunday 15 September 3.45pm @ A cappella in the Gorge

The National Indigenous Music Award-winning Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir (CAAWC), is awakening audiences with the ancient sounds of sacred songs in the Western Arrarnta and Pitjantjatjara languages. The Choir has performed across Germany and in 2018 in acclaimed concerts at the Hammer Hall-Melbourne Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House and at the Serenade Choral Festival at the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, Washington DC, all in ONE WEEK! Its story has been celebrated in the award-winning documentary ‘The Song Keepers’, screened before record-breaking and appreciative audiences at the Melbourne, Darwin and New Zealand International Film Festivals and screened nationally on NITV and also in cinemas across Australia and New Zealand. In this UN International Year of Indigenous Languages, Desert Song Festival honours the work of this remarkable ensemble at their ‘home’ festival.

ASANTE SANADesert Song Festival’s Choir in Residence

Friday 6 September 5.30pm @ Parade of Performers and ApertureSaturday 8 September 5.30pm @ Desert Voice

Friday 13 September 6.30pm @ Under The Southern CrossSunday 15 September 3.45pm @ A cappella in the Gorge

Asante Sana is an Alice Springs community choir, under the musical direction of Morris Stuart. The choir gets together every winter for an annual season of rehearsals and performances, concluding with the very popular season-ending concert ‘A cappella in the Gorge’. Asante Sana has collaborated with the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, the triple Grammy-Award-Winning Soweto Gospel Choir and with International Tenor Boyd Owen. Since the inception of the Desert Song Festival, Asante Sana has been a regular and popular performer, anchoring ‘Desert Voice’ and featuring in ‘A cappella in the Gorge’, to the delight of audiences. The choir has also regularly contributed to the community through its performances at Civic events, conferences, local institutions (the Alice Springs Hospital, the gaol) and other local events (the Old Timers’ Fete) to mention but a few! Since 2008 the choir has also collaborated with the Australian Youth Choir, the Sydney Street Choir, the Brunswick Women’s Choir, The Australian Boys’ Choir, the Tenor Philip Griffin, and many more.

AURORAFriday 6 September 5.30pm @ The Parade of Performers and Aperture

Saturday 7 September 5.30pm @ Desert VoiceSunday 8 September 2.00pm-4.45pm @ Pentatonic

Tuesday 10 September 7.30pm @ The Festival ShowcaseWednesday 11 September 5.30pm-6.30pm @ The Choral workshop

Friday 13 September 10.30am-3.00pm @ The Soweto Gospel Choir WorkshopFriday 13 September 6.30pm @ Under the Southern Cross

Sunday 15 September 3.45pm @ A cappella in the Gorge – Ormiston Gorge

AURORA is the senior vocal ensemble of internationally renowned South Australian youth choir Young Adelaide Voices, under the direction of Christie Anderson. A diverse and talented ensemble, Aurora performs a range of repertoire from early music to contemporary pop and they are committed to performing contemporary Australian music. Aurora have sung everywhere from onstage with the Rolling Stones at the Adelaide Oval to the orchestral pit for the Australian Ballet’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.


QUETZAL GUERRERO / QVLNFriday 6 September 5.30pm @ Parade of Performers and Aperture

Saturday 7 September 10.30am Soiree & 5.30pm Desert Voice @ WhitegumsSunday 8 September 2.00pm @ Pentatonic

Monday 9 & Tuesday 10 September @ Midday and Meditation in the MallMonday 9 September 6.00pm @ Fiddlesticks

Tuesday 10 September 7.30pm @ The Festival ShowcaseFriday 13 September 6.30pm @ Under The Southern CrossSunday 15 September 3.45pm @ A cappella in the Gorge

SUNSHINE ZERDASaturday 7 September 10.30am @ Soiree at Whitegums

Monday 9 September @ Midday in the MallMonday 9 September 8.00pm @ Meditation in the Mall

Tuesday 10 September @ Midday in the MallSunshine Zerda returns to Desert Song Festival for a second year, again contributing her passion for wellness through her Vibrational Yoga sessions. Sunshine’s fearless and uncompromising approach to wellness is fuelled by her intimate understanding of the demands of a busy lifestyle and the potential detriment of stress to our health. Her mission: to change inertia into action, delivering positive transformation for body and mind, helping us live a higher quality of life, creating a functional human out of us! A former professional athlete, Sunshine joined the US Junior Olympic team for gymnastics in her teens, before moving into martial arts. She graduated from college with a business degree, segueing into the corporate world for a number of years, before ultimately returning to her true passions: health and fitness.

Q returns to Desert Song Festival for his third successive year. As our Associate Musical Director for the global musical collaboration series, Q will collaborate with the celebrated violinist Eric Avery, as well as with the Arafura Collective. One of the world’s most exciting electric violinists, originally from Los Angeles and now resident in Brisbane, Quetzal is a prodigious genre-hopping artist whose virtuosity on his trademark electric-blue violin reflects his Mexican/Brazilian and Native American Indian roots. QVLN (Q-Violin) has spent the greater part of his twenty-year career in North and South America, He expresses his passions for love, life, and dance with his voice, violin, guitar, and percussion. Q is ‘on the road’ about 200 days each year performing at clubs, festivals, cultural centres - and for people in remote parts of the world that commercial music bypasses. In 2015, QVLN had the honour of representing the United States as part of the State Department’s American Music Abroad program, in conjunction with long-time collaborator Oveous and a talented group of musicians from Los Angeles. http://www.qviolin.com/

UKE NOMADFriday 6 September 8.00pm @ Festival Club Watertank Café

Saturday 7 Sept 10.30-3.30pm @ Soiree at WhitegumsTuesday 11 September 12.00-2.30pm @ The Ukulele Café

Wednesday 12 September 12.00-2.30pm @ The Ukulele CaféThursday 13 September 12.00-2.30pm @ The Ukulele CaféFriday 14 September 12.00-2.30pm @ Midday in the Mall

Friday 14 September 5.30pm @ Young Desert VoicesAnu Grace and Laurie Bycroft invoke the troubadours of old with their songs about love, life and people met touring Australasia. Their original and contemporary Jazz Folk features Tenor & Bass Ukuleles in a whole new tonal light, looped with soaring harmonic overlays and flute that lands smack-dab in your heart.

ERIC AVERYFriday 6 September 5.30pm @ Parade of Performers and Aperture

Saturday 7 September 10.30am Soiree & 5.30pm Desert Voice @ WhitegumsSunday 2.00pm 8 September @ Pentatonic

Tuesday 10 September 7.30pm @ The Festival ShowcaseFriday 13 September 6.30pm @ Under the Southern CrossSunday 15 September 3.45pm @ A cappella in the Gorge

Desert Song Festival is proud to present Eric Avery as part of is 2019 program. Eric is a Ngiyampaa, Yuin, Bandjalang and Gumbangirr artist. He started learning classical music by “ear” when he was 11. He is a violinist, a dancer and composer. Working with his family’s custodial songs he seeks to revive and continue on an age old legacy, using his talents to create an experience of his people’s culture. Eric has benefited from mentorship at The Australian Ballet and studied dance at NAISDA Dance college. He performs classical music and also creates new contemporary music expressing his Koori (NSW Aboriginal) heritage. Eric is an experienced and highly sought after performer across Australia This outstanding artist will be collaborating with Quetzal Guerrero/QVLN to present some exceptional musical artistry at Desert Song Festival 2019.


ARAFURA MUSIC COLLECTIVEFriday 6 September 5.30pm @ Parade of Performers and Aperture

Sunday 8 September 2.00pm @ PentatonicTuesday 10 September 7.30pm @ The Festival Showcase

Thursday 12 September 6.30pm @ Alchera - JugulbaFriday 13 September 6.30pm @ Under The Southern CrossSunday 15 September 3.45pm @ A cappella in the Gorge

Arafura Music Collective is made up of the most prominent and respected musicians in Darwin incorporating early music, classical, jazz, contemporary, intercultural and other genres into performances. “Love and Dreaming” explores the ideas of love and identity through a collaboration between Jason Guwanbal Gurriwiwi and Netanela Mizrahi bringing understanding, respect and appreciation for both Aboriginal and Western musical traditions. The performance includes excerpts from the renowned Juliet Letters as performed by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky

CHIMEThursday 12 September @ Midday in the mall

Thursday 12 September 8.00pm @ “Music that Moves Us”.Friday 13 September 6.30pm @ Under The Southern Cross

15 September 3.45pm @ A cappella in the Gorge

The Chime Choir is thrilled to be a part of the 2019 Desert Song Festival, presenting a concert program of “Music that Moves Us”: a collection of Music from composers such as Morten Lauridsen, Ola Gjeilo and Robert Lau–in addition, we will bring some music from Melbourne based composers, Daniel Brinsmead and Kevin Barrell. A contemporary community choir from Melbourne, Chime presents an innovative, and eclectic musical program of the highest standard, intended to engage a diverse audience. The Choir endeavours to provide its members and its audiences with an experience of musical artistry, and the beauty and power of choral singing. Their performances will move their audience emotionally: a program full of joy, hope, peace, moments of reflection and excitement. Marten Visser–Principal Artistic Director

THE ALICE SPRINGS WORLDCHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Wednesday 11 September 7.30pm @ Church of The AscensionThe Alice Springs World Chamber Orchestra is back! The core quintet of the 12-strong orchestra will present part of their new program at the 2019 Desert Song Festival. Building on an enthusiastic local following, the WCO have recently taken their talents to the 2019 Darwin Festival. The ensemble has been praised for its varied styles and genres, as well as depth within a diverse repertoire. From Händel and Mozart, to Coldplay and Radiohead, the WCO features Alice Springs-based musicians, with an international flavour. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness the development of crossover chamber music, in Alice Springs.


Quartet, with NT vocalist and actor Yoris Wilson in the main role. Also on the program is the preview of the Olive Pink Opera by Anne Boyd ‘Alchera-Jugulba’, Arrernte and Warlpiri terms for the Dreamtime/Law for String quartet and Alto flute.

MALARKEYSaturday 7 September @ Festival Club – One night only

Malarkey are house band at the Watertank Café. You can find us there on Saturday mornings. Born of the generosity and support given to the Alice music scene by owners Chris and Lyn Wilkinson who treat you like family and ply you with the best coffee. Ross Muir on bass and acoustic guitars and vocals, Kirryn Wilkinson (returning to play the festival gigs) on guitar and vocals, Bill Pechey on acoustic, electric and dobro guitars and vocals, and Anders Pfeiffer. Malarkey play songs we know and love, trading lead vocal roles amongst ourselves. We aim to get inside each and every song we play. We love it when people sway with us while drinking their coffee, and young kids laugh and bop in time.

KATIE HARDER& THE ARTFUL DODGERS

Saturday 14 September @ Festival Club – One night only

Join Katie and her band The Artful Dodgers in her only show this year for a night to remember! Heartfelt, smooth and down to earth, Alice Springs singer/songwriter and mother of four, Katie Harder embraces you with her music. Her lyrics have a depth that stay with you long after the final chord. Her folk/roots melodies etch into your mind. Her stories carry a warming authenticity and humour.

THE FESTIVAL CLUB@ Watertank Café

KING MARONG AND SAFARAFriday 6 September @ Festival Club – One night only

King Marong and Safara are a musical ‘Tour de force’, entertaining on every level! The crowd just loves them, and they are guaranteed to get you moving. Born in The Gambia West Africa, King has been performing professionally since the age of 12. He developed his skills in the coastal fishing village where he grew up surrounded by the griots (hereditary musicians) and international musicians who were his mentors for Senegambian drumming. In his late teens he formed his band Kunta Kinteh touring The Gambia, Senegal, UK and Europe. He has built an international reputation as a master of many African drumming styles on the Djembe, Boucarabou, Doundoun and Sabar. A sensitive, versatile and dynamic performer, and a respected teacher, he is a favourite in Alice Springs, which he now calls home. It’ll be a pleasure to have King and his ensemble perform at the Festival Club again.

FIDDLESTICKSSaturday 7 September @ Festival Club – One night only

Karen and Jacko (Fiddlesticks), both from musical families, performed as a duo in NZ, for many years, living ‘on the road’ performing for a living. This eventually developed into a 4-piece family band, which brought Fiddlesticks to Australia in 2005 to live in QLD, touring with QLD Arts Council for 5 years before seeking remote adventures in WA and the NT. The move to Alice Springs in 2015 has offered the inspiration of playing with new combinations and groups in a town that punches way above its weight in opportunity. Tonight, Fiddlesticks join forces with the legendary local bass player Ross Muir and percussionist Paul Box as we relax into bluesy, country vocals while also taking you on a journey of duelling fiddle music from Scotland, Europe and the America’s.


BARRY SKIPSEY SINGER / SONGWRITER“Performing Songs from the Heart”

Saturday 7 September @ Festival Club – One night onlySinger-Songwriter Barry Skipsey has a passion for life at the “End of the Bitumen”. A resident of Central Australia for the better part of four decades, the lyrics in many of his songs portray the colour and character of this rich and diverse Island Nation. He is a deft instrumentalist, a powerful singer and equally engaging as a performer. As a young man, his early songs captured the rough and ready outback spirit, working as a roustabout in the Shearing Industry, a deckhand on a Prawn Trawler and laboring on a 90-pound jackhammer on NT building sites. As a father, his songs of Love and Family Life are thought provoking. They’ll take you on a nostalgic journey and stir your emotions. At the same time, be prepared for a laugh.

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Desert Song Festival 2019 - Proudly presented by Central Australian Singing


2019 - Desert SongQuartet, with NT vocalist and actor Yoris Wilson in the main role. Also on the program is the preview of the Olive Pink Opera by Anne Boyd ‘Alchera-Jugulba’,

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