Read about the adventures of Oonagh What is she doing right now? Download mp3 samples of Oonagh's magic Buy the Marmaris EP


 

It all began...

...with a rusty steel string rescued from a dusty box on top of mum’s wardrobe, an orange toy piano, and a childhood listening to Abba, Bach and the Dutch Swing College Band…

Cheezel Chick

the cello lured me through my first live orchestral experience...a performance of Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals. From classical beginnings with teacher Phillipa Jackson, I explored jazz and free improvisation in collectives with Sandy Evans, Jim Denley and Sydney's "What is Music?" crew, Robbie Avenaem and Oren Ombarchi.

A long time love of Indian music led me to studies in both south and north indian classical music with Ashok Roy and Krishna Kuman, learning to play on the cello and sing.

I had always written songs on that old guitar and started to perform in the early nineties with delectable trio EDIBLE SOUND. I played rock cello with THE HERETICS, Latin Jazz fusion with Don Burrows AUSTRALATIN and Indian fusion with tabla virtuoso Rob Shannon.

With a background in theatre studies, I started playing in live theatre and dance with Ionesco's THE PLAYHOUSE OF ABSURDITY at Belvoir St. Theatre and was a co-creator of children's storytelling show I TRUST MY BRAIN with self constructed instruments - a concept bought by ABC TV’s PLAYSCHOOL. COMPRESSION 100 was a Butoh dance at St James Station in Sydney - an improvisation in a disused railway tunnel knee deep in water - byo gumboots.

Lippy grrrl

Playing live in theatre evolved into composing and producing soundtracks for film...TOUCH N GO and JESS'S HOMECOMING - voted audience favourite at the Sydney Film Festival in '98 and SUPERGLUE AND ANGEL'S WINGS featured at the Edinburgh Film Festival ...and theatre... BELOW for the Griffin Theatre Co and KRAPPS LAST TAPE for Sydney Theatre Co.

In '95 - 96 I studied composition at Sydney University with Anne Boyd, Ross Edwards and Peter Sculthorpe. I kept composition in balance playing in the uni's javanese gamelan.

I was commissioned to compose for the Australian Women's Music Festival of 1997 and around that time also devised several music/movement pieces for the Perfomance Space's Open Seasons. Some of these works were broadcast on ABC FMs New Music Program.

Sultry Seductress of Sound

In the late nineties in the Middle East, I returned to song-writing. I brought back some recordings and an Oud - the beautiful Middle Eastern lute. And so began an exploration into Arabic Music with some of Sydney's Arabic musicians.

In 2000 I released MARMARIS, and in 2003, MOUTH OF THE SKY, songs woven with influences of folk, jazz, indian and arabic music and my cello.

Some middle eastern influenced projects followed...In 2003 I wrote music for the ABC Radio National World Play FISTFUL OF SAND a story set in Iraq and in 2004 Kim Carpenter's Theatre of Image production of TALES OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

More recently I wrote and produced two musical documentaries for ABCs Radio National network which were broadcast in 2005 - HEART OF CONFLICT - a response to Austrlia's involvement in the Iraq War and THE EARTHBOUND SPIRIT - on the Sufi poetry of Rumi and Hafiz.

In 2005/2006 I worked with Kim Carpenter's Theatre of Image on the music for GO PINOCCHIO! and created a sound design for FAST CARS AND TRACTOR ENGINES with Urban Theatre Projects.

Mid 2006 I gave birth to a baby girl and am for now engrossed in milky bliss and lullabies :)

 

 





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