Since the mid-90s I have been excited to explore the expressive potential of voice and body through various techniques and in a number of performance styles. My explorations and experiments with extended voice have been deeply influenced by my past and ongoing association with exploratory voice practitioners internationally and in Australia. I have created new music and performance works for the embodied voice, both in live production and recordings, in Australia and internationally as an actor, singer and voice specialist with a particular interest in collaborating with musicians to create cross-art performances.
Some of my recent work includes: ongoing collaborations with Elissa Goodrich, Margaret Mills and Gina Gascoigne including ‘Fragments’ (La Mama 2017); performance in Geoff Robinson’s ‘Itinerant Sounds’ for Liquid Architecture (2018), co-creation and performance of ‘Bottlenecked’ at Melbourne Museum for ‘Elevate.1’ – Global Day of Performances in Elevators (2017) and ‘Breathing Together‘ (2019) – both with Amaara Raheem, performance in Daniel Schusser’s ‘Schmaltz’ at the Malthouse Theatre (2016) and ‘Play Me I’m Yours’ at Arts Centre Melbourne (2014). I have also loved working on projects such as: an audio tour for the ‘Hyper Real‘ exhibition (with Bernard Caleo for the National Gallery of Australia); ‘Pearl’ for The Humour Foundation’s Elder Clowns (clown doctors for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia); contributing to the ‘Sound Walks September 2020‘ festival (with Karen Berger); and adventuring into the world of audio books, narrating Elliot Perlman’s ‘Catvinkle‘ series in 2020.
I currently sing with ‘Oblique Strategies’ (Robert Stephens, Caitlin French and Elissa Goodrich) having a ball interpreting the songs of Brian Eno and compose and perform with ‘Midnight Assembly’ (Nick Thorpe, Phil Barbuto and Paul Dalby). I’ve sung with the ‘Astra Choir’, ‘The Teapot Ensemble of Australia’, ‘The Lolo and Lulu Revue’ (Open Studio, MIFA, etc..), ‘Lolo and Berto’ (Butterfly Club), and ‘Something Like A Kiss’ (Art Centre Melbourne) with Robert Stephens. My composition with Belinda Moody ‘Ah Wish’ was selected for ABC Jazztracks 30th Anniversary CD and my compositions with Biddy Connor, ‘Hello From the Moon’ and ‘River Tales’ feature in Museum Victoria’s online response to COVID-19 through the ‘Museum at Home’ program. I was nominated for Best Female Performer (Fringe) in the 2001 Greenroom Awards for ‘Quartet’ and won the 2004 Fringe Festival Award for Most Outstanding Female Performer for ‘The Now Hour’.
I’m passionate about the role of arts in a wide range of environments and am involved in community art projects, managing the Federation Handbells program (for Creative Victoria and Museums Victoria) and co-curating ‘La Mama Cabaretica’ with Isabel Knight.
I’ve studied with acclaimed Voice and Physical Theatre practitioners including; Linda Wise, Jonathan Hart and Vicente Fuentes (Roy Hart Theatre), Jorge Parente (Zygmunt Molik Voice and Body Work) Loris Synan, Frankie Armstrong, Monica Pagneaux, Dawn Langman, Helen Sharp and John Howard (Body Voice Projects), Al Wunder (Theatre of the Ordinary), Song of the Goat (Poland), and Catherine Fitzmaurice. In 2019 I received a General Attestation from the Centre Artistique International Roy Hart.
I have taught voice privately and at institutions including Victorian College of the Arts, La Trobe University, Federation University, St Martin’s Youth Arts Centre, Melbourne University, APS, Victoria University, Balancing Act, and the National Theatre. I have adapted my teaching to the challenges and adventures of online settings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am completing my accreditation as a Roy Hart Voicework Teacher with mentor, Linda Wise and have a Bachelor of Education in Drama and Music from Melbourne University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Voice Studies from the Victorian College of the Arts and am a PhD candidate at La Trobe University exploring embodiment and presence in Zygmunt Molik’s Voice and Body Work and Roy Hart Voice Work. My article, ‘Many Doors: The Histories and Philosophies of Roy Hart Voice Work and Estill Voice Training’ was published in The Voice and Speech Review in 2019. In 2014 I was an Australian Voice Association Student Encouragement Award finalist and I have been awarded research grants from Victoria University (in 2010) and from La Trobe University (in 2019) to study Voice in the UK, France and Poland. In August 2021, I co-presented ‘Fusing Horizons: Evolution and Intersection within Roy Hart Voice Work and Our Unique Selves’ with Amy Mihyang Ginther for the 2021 International VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association) Conference.
I am delighted to be an Artist in Residence at the Body Voice Centre, Footscray Australia.