Multilayered vocal work created with Jean Schwarz (electronic drone and electronics ) of my keening vocals and harmonic singing

Sdreamings

Keening Song

My vocal Improvisation utilsing a medley of different styles from scat to bel canto in dialogue with Jean Schwarz ("Celia Studios")improvising with electronics.

Singing In Tongues

Bridge to Otherness is a portrait in sound of the Blue Mts, where I live in Australia commissioned by WDR Audioakustisches Kunst (Koln). People who have differing world views who call this place home speak - from indigenous elders of the Gundungarra clan, to a local  anthropologist, writers, shop keepers, ecologists, artists, musicians and even the manager the highway upgrade. Bridge to Otherness was written composed as a response to the mainstream celebrations of the bicentenary of the crossing of Blue Mts by the colonial explorers Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth and looks at how the colonisation of place has affected our relationship  and response  to it , and our sense and perception of time as technology has provided the means to speed across the escarpment on a highway  which was developed from an indigenous walking track. Bridge to Otherness asks "what is progress?". Interwoven with the talking are the sounds of the bush recorded by the composer -birds, water and wind.

BRIDGE TO OTHERNESS

One of two short works commissioned by "Frequency Oz", Relocating Self was created when I was living on a farm in NSW for a year. It features my improvised microtonal extended vocal techniques, improvised piano and found farm sounds.

Relocating Self By Jo Truman

Flock is a free vocal improvisation inspired by birdsong, in collaboration with Jean Schwarz improvising with electronics.

Flock

This piece is an ode to my gg grandfather, the Scottish ornithologist, natural history illustrator and writer William MacGillivray. Built around his poem of the same name the work features my extended flock like vocal techniques and a looped bagpipe.

01 Solitudes

"CELL SONGS" is a 52 min radiophonic work commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) consisting of 3 abstract soundscapes based on narratives and notions  surrounding pre--colonial, colonial and contemporary post colonial  Australian life. it imagines the sounds and pace of life before white colonisation,  moving onto the Industrial Revolution and its consequences in Britain, the exportation of convict/slaves and the resulting impact on indigenous  Australia and the environment and finally moving to the digital age. Each sequence begins with different methods of measuring time-water drops, an old mechanical clock, a digital clock. For this work I traveled to the Northern Territory of Australia where I interviewed the poet -elder "Big" Bill Neidji (who speaks of the Dreamtime and laments the destruction of the natural environment)and recorded environmental sounds unique to this area. Also featured in the work are studio recordings of the koori storyteller Pauline McLeod, the music and singing of Aboriginal artist and actor Gullpillil, narrated written accounts of convict sentences by Paul Carter, sung ballads by Phil Minton and stories and the music and improvisations of guitarist Fred Frith and myself, singing "the voice of the earth". Executive Producer: Andrew McLennan.

"Cell Songs"- The Listening Room, ABC Classic FM

Horspiel commission -Audioakustisches Kunst, WDR3 Koln - 30 Mins

This work was composed, performed and produced whilst I was living in Europe, and draws on memories of the year I spent living and traveling in the Northern Territory of Australia. Inner and external landscapes are transcribed into voice, piano and sound. Exec Producer Klaus Schoning. Electroacoustic technician: Benedict Bitzenhoffer

"Sdreamings"- WDR Koln

'Deprem' is 'Earthquake'. This work  is a commission by Radio Eye, Radio National (ABC) and was written composed and produced in the wake of the great Turkish quakes of '99. Two months following the quake I travelled through out Turkey and recorded found sounds and interviews of people from many walks of life, and local music, which in this work weave throughout a travelogue reflecting on my travels, experiences and thoughts of the quake and its impact on the people, culture and country of Turkey.

'Deprem'- - Radio Eye, ABC Radio National

I am a singer and voice artist, composer, improviser,pianist and sound artist. I have an eclectic range of vocal styles and capacities including classical, bel canto, scat, extended vocal and microtonal techniques. I have sung at major festivals all around the world. I also have had many audio arts works commissioned for radio (ABC Australia and WDR Koln).

Jo Truman

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