Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

Australian resident composer and reeds player Ian Blake joins SANS for a series of gigs in Europe from May to October this year. The VAKA Festival in the north of Iceland brings together musicians from the Nordic countries and beyond to explore the theme of 'Tradition for Tomorrow'.

Here's some background on the Europe-based musicians: Sanna Kurki-Suonio was for many years one of the voices of Swedish/Finnish band Hedningarna. She has had several operatic rôles created for her in Finland, holds a doctorate in ethnic vocal techniques, and teaches at the North Karelia University of Applied Sciences. Born near Mt Ararat, Armenian duduk master Tigran Aleksanyan studied at the Armenian Conservatory and was a member of the Armenian State Dance Ensemble orchestra and the Akhtamar Dance Group, which toured widely through Europe and Iraq. He has been based in London since 2001.  In addition to his work as a multi-instrumental performer, notably on the electrified 74-string zither, Andrew Cronshaw is a producer, journalist and critic with a substantial body of articles, reviews and projects concerning world music.

SANS made their first visit to Australia in 2013 for the National Folk Festival. Their first CD was released in April 2014, recorded live on a tour of Flanders. http://www.cloudvalley.com/SANS.htm http://www.facebook.com/SANSmusik

Performers: SANS 
 Tigran Aleksanyan: duduk
 Ian Blake: soprano sax and bass clarinet 
Andrew Cronshaw: electric zither, fujara, marovantele, ba-wu
 Sanna Kurki-Suonio: voice and kantele

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by email to vaka@thjodlist.is

Featured artists

• Music of Ian Blake