Zulya & The Children Of The Underground Play Dunstan Playhouse 9/11

Multi award-winning songstress Zulya Kamalova comes to the Dunstan Playhouse, with her band The Children of the Underground, for one performance only on 11 September.

Zulya is the leading proponent of Tatar and Russian music in Australia as well as one of the most versatile and accomplished vocalists on the world music stage. Tatar music is specific to the Russian region of Tatarstan, and can incorporate instrumental dance music, secular song and sacred music. She has appeared at many national festivals and performed at WOMADelaide in 2003.

Her music reflects not only the cultural wealth of her background - Tatar, Russian, Australian - but also an ongoing fascination with experimenting through a range of musical styles and instrumentation. In command of this formidable array of instruments are some of Australia's most exquisite musicians, weaving through superb songwriting and intricate arrangements, to say nothing of Zulya's sublime voice which centres on the hauntingly beautiful Tatar singing style she was surrounded by as she grew up in the heart of Russia. It is a sound originating somewhere in between Eastern Europe and Far East, that musicologists call "a bridge between Mongolian and Hungarian music".

With songs sung in three languages - English, Russian and Zulya's native tongue Tatar, Zulya and the Children of the Underground explore the depths of the Russian soul.

Zulya began performing at the age of 9 and has lived in Australia since 1991. Her first album was Journey of Voice (1997) which received accolades for its versatility, passion and the "achingly beautiful" tone of her voice. Her later albums Aloukie (1999) won the World Music Album of the Year 2000 at the Australian World Music Awards, and elusive (2002) was nominated for the 2003 ARIA Award for Best World Music Album. These albums feature traditional and original songs in her distinctive Tatar style but with unusual instrumentation, presenting the traditional music from a new perspective. Her 2004 album The Waltz of Emptiness (and Other Songs on Russian Themes), on its release in Europe in 2005, spent 16 weeks in the top 20 of European world music charts - a feat no other Australian album has ever achieved. Her most recent album is 3 Nights (2007 ARIA World Music Album of the Year).

Beginning collaboration with The Children of the Underground in 2003, Zulya's music has further developed in surprising and intriguing directions, with the band bringing a new level of sophistication in arrangement and musicianship. During the last few years, Zulya and The Children of the Underground have dazzled audiences around the world at many major venues and festivals, including The Moods (Switzerland), Kulturbrauerei (Germany), Savoy Teatteri (Finland), Szene and SARGFABRIK (Austria), Red Square (Russia), Piramida (Tatarstan), Living Water Festival (Siberia), Red Club (Russia), Sydney Opera House (NSW), The Basement (NSW), Ten Days On The Island (Tas), Woodford Folk Festival (Qld), and Kulcha (WA).

Zulya's work has been repeatedly featured on national radio and television to high acclaim, and she was also awarded "Female Artist of the Year" at the World Music Awards (2001) and Best World Music Artist by Australian Live Music Awards (2002). Zulya has worked with Bob Brozman, Nikola Parov, Slava Grigoryan, Sirocco, Llew Kiek, Epizo Bangoura and 2009 Adelaide Cabaret Festival performers VulgarGrad among others.

BASS on 131 246 or online at www.bass.net.au

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