Canberra rings with international music, colour

Canberra Times – Australasia
Feb 12, 2005

Artists from overseas began pouring into Canberra yesterday for the
showcase concert held last night at the Canberra Theatre and the week
of international performers’ events to follow.

Meeting outside the Canberra Theatre for the first time yesterday
were musicians from Senegal- Gambia, Nigeria, Egypt, Tibet and Turkey.

Jali Buba Kuyateh, a hereditary musician known for his skills in
playing the kora, a West African harp, has been performing since the
age of five.

He was joined by Bintou Kandeh, who dances, but also plays the hand
drum to accompany Kuyateh. She has been performing for 15 years.

The Ebonyi State Nigerian Troupe combines dance and drumming
skills. They will also be performing today at the Food and Dance
Spectacular and tonight at Club Mombassa.

The Tawadros brothers, Joseph and James, originally came from
Egypt. Joseph, 21, plays the oud and was nominated for an award at
the 2004 Arias for his first album Storyteller. They will play tonight
at Tilley’s in Lyneham.

Nyima Tashi and Dawa Dolma play music rarely heard outside
Tibet. Trained at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in
Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama takes a personal interest in their
music. They have lived and worked in Australia since 2000.

The Samsun State Classical Turkish Music Choir, which also performed
at the Peace Concert on Thursday was founded in 1991.

Conducted by Murat Salim Tokac, the choir performs music by composers
with Ottoman, Greek, Armenian and Jewish origins.

The showcase concert has always been one of the National Multicultural
Festival’s most popular events. With the addition of Canberran Moya
Simpson, who compered last night’s concert, and Peter J. Casey, who
performed at his piano, it was a good example of Canberra reaching
to the wider world.

For festival information, phone 62070162 or visit the web site,