Sing Sing 2007

Sing Sing is a tok pidgin word from Papua New Guinea meaning a large musical gathering, a celebration in song and dance, a music party.

“The Sing Sing concerts have since the mid 90s brought together some of the most important singers,musicians and dancers from our immediate Oceania region in a unique state of the art concert performance, presenting tradional,contemporary,choral and stringband music with accompanying visuals and aural soundscapes to capture a sense of place, to take the audience on a Melanesian journey through the landscape and texture of both urban and grass roots village life.

Sing Sing explores the shared links and differences, of culture,of history,of place. From the highlands of West Papua, through the forests and coral atolls of PNG, through the many Torres Strait Islands and down into the vast deserts of Australia.We follow these important songlines. For too long we here in Australia have ignored our northern neighbours, only highlighting the sensationalist negative stories. Sing Sing celebrates the positive and the intricate grass roots life and culture. There is as much we can learn from them as they can from us.

At times the concert is an exhilarating wall of sound with pulsating slit log drumming ,dynamic walls of choral vocals, sublime world fusion grooves; at other times you can hear a pin drop whilst a solitary bamboo flute or solo traditional vocal gently floats across the audience accompanied by the sound of insects.

The 2007 Sing Sing introduces the wonderful Moab Stringband from Raluana village Rabaul, headed by George Telek. Two bars of stringband music is guaranteed to make you smile. And we proudly present three emerging artists from West Papua, to sing songs of loss, of the unjust military takeover of their homeland.The PNG, Torres Strait and indigenous and non indigenous Australian artists join together with our West Papuan neighbours to say that we come from one Salt Water and we perform together strongly as one people, one soul. This is such an important issue for Australia. The West Papuan people look to Australia for support and understanding.
Oher highlights include the Pitjantjara singer Frank Yamma, the dancing collaborations of Djakapurra Manyurryun, Alber t David and Jeanette Fabila, and the traditional PNG drumming song and flute playing of Airi Ingram, Ben Hakalitz and Pius Wasi.

We hope you enjoy this unique and significant celebration of our region featuring some of the most important and fast emerging Pacific artists. Come and take something home in your heart.

David Bridie
Musical Director

DAVID BRIDIE ARIA award-winning composer and producer David Bridie is one of Australia's most innovative artists. Whether solo or in his bands NOT DROWNING, WAVING and MY FRIEND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE or as a film composer, David is committed to making connections between Australia and its neighbours. As music director for Yeperenye, the Morning Star concert and three previous Sing Sings, and producing artists like Telek, Archie Roach, and Christine Anu, David is the foremost producer of Melanesian and indigenous Australian artists.

DJAKAPURRA MUNYARRYUN (Yirrkala) Raised with traditional dance and ceremony, Djakapurra is from the Munyarryun clan of northeast Arnhem Land. He has toured Australia teaching and conducting traditional dance and music workshops, and as a pivotal member of Bangarra Dance Theatre.

GEORGE TELEK (Rabaul, PNG) For twenty-five years, Telek (MBE) has been at the forefront of the PNG music scene internationally and at home. Telek's songs, and his hauntingly beautiful voice, traverse many musical styles, from traditional to stringband to rock, capturing the proud cultural heritage of the Tolais people of PNG. Telek paints a different picture of PNG, a positive story of grassroots life to counteract the negative press usually generated.

MOAB STRINGBAND (Rabaul, PNG) The Sing Sing 2 concert in 2006 was the international debut for MOAB STRINGBAND, who had never before travelled out of Rabaul. Featuring interweaving guitars, ukuleles and 4 part harmony vocals, stringband songs celebrate the vagaries of village life. As one of PNG's finest exponents, the Moab boys play the racy rocking Tolais style.

AIRI INGRAM (Gabagaba, PNG) Renowned for his work in DRUM DRUM, Airi is a drummer and percussionist with a sublime groove, equally adept at playing traditional Manus Island garamuts (slit log), Pacific World Beat or Dub reggae and hip hop drum kit style. Epitomising the Sing Sing theme of Australian and Melanesian musicians sharing their craft and songs, Airi has recently become director of the newly established Wantok Musik Foundation.

RICHARD MOGU Hailing from Amazon Bay, Central Province in Papua New Guinea, Richard is a talented bass player and vocalist currently based in Port Moresby. Along with Airi Ingram and other PNG musicians, he is part of TRIBE OF JUBAL.

ALBERT DAVID (Yam Island, TORRES STRAIT) Albert is a choreographer, dancer and teacher of contemporary and traditional dance. After many years with Bangarra, he choreographed and composed his own works, Apu Kaazi and Bipotim, incorporating contemporary and traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait dance. Albert collaborated on the award-winning RAN soundtrack, and danced in the very first Sing Sing.

SORU (TONY) SUBAM (Madang, PNG) Widely considered to be a founder of PNG's contemporary music scene, Tony Subam co-formed SANGUMA in 1977, melding the PNG cultural traditions with western instrumentation. Headlining the South Pacific Arts Festival, they were the first PNG band to tour internationally. Tony has been an inspiration to a whole generation of PNG musicians.

JEANETTE FABILA (Aboriginal/Islander/PNG/Tahiti) Jeanette is an contemporary dance performer and choreographer, and a stand out performer in the first Sing Sing concerts. Drawing on the many threads of her heritage, Jeanette has performed in Black Chicks Talking, with Bangarra and sung with Archie Roach and Christine Anu.

HEIN ARUMISORE/SIXTA MAMBOR/RONNY KARENI (WEST PAPUA) With hauntingly beautiful songs, this troupe of singers and dancers evoke their troubled homeland. Like East Timor, West Papua has been deprived of its liberty due to the Indonesian military occupation. Students all, Hein, Ronny and Sixta perform songs and dances from all over their homeland to share their culture and raise awareness of the political situation in West Papua.

PHIL WALES As a professional guitarist, Phil has worked on many albums and soundtracks for television series, documentaries and films. A long time collaborator of David Bridie, Phil has also toured extensively with Telek, most recently to the Fes'Napuan festival in Vanuatu in 2006.

TIM COLE and RUSSEL BRADLEY The visual and sound elements of Sing Sing are vital parts of this show, working the atmospherics and capturing a sense of place. As members of NOT DROWNING, WAVING, Russel and Tim have travelled throughout Melanesia and outback Australia absorbing the varied cultural influences.