Sydney Folk Festival August 16-18
Mara! have been invited to perform at the inaugural festival in August which is an initiative of the NSW Folk Federation, who would like to see it run annually. Festival director Warren Fahey is arranging a super lineup of artists for this inaugural event.
Banditaliana touring Australia
Our great friends and colleagues Banditaliana, led by accordion supremo Riccardo Tesi, and feauring Claudio Carbone, Maurizio Geri and Luigi Biolcati, will be touring Australia in April/May, with major events to include the National and Fairbridge Folk Festivals. On Easter Thursday, the band will perform at Camelot's Django Bar in Marrickville, with guest appearances by Llew and Mara Kiek.
 Mara! and Martenitsa recording new album
Recording at Forbes St Studios in June, and previously at Megaphon Studios and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Mara! and Martenitsa will complete the bed tracks for their next CD. The works include pieces by composers Llew and Mara Kiek, Paul Cutlan, Laura Bishop and Sandy Evans with librettists Silvia Entcheva, Marcia Maria-Anthony and Stephan Kozuharov. Engineers Steve Morley, Chris Doherty and associate producer Guy Dickerson are also contributing their expertise.
World Music Ensemble at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Llew Kiek is running this course again in term 2 2019. Enquiries are now open.
For more info on the course
Crossroads: work continues on new album
Mara and Llew, with Padrig Sicard from Quimper and Yann Cariou from Concarneau, continue to work on a new project for their group Crossroads.
For more news
Mara! Electronic Press Kit here
Tra Parole E Silenzio Mara! and Martenitsa's latest CD
Tra Parole e Silenzio is a celebration of life's most precious and enduring treasures - love, home, family and friends, so exquisitely expressed in the poignantly tender poems of Eduardo Di Giovanni and stunningly interpreted by Mara! Band composers and performers Paul Cutlan, Andrew Robson, Steve Elphick, Llew Kiek, Mara Kiek and Sandy Evans, in collaboration with Silvia Entcheva, Naomi Vaughan and the magnificent Martenitsa choir.
More about Tra Parole e Silenzio. CD available from our online store.
from Froots (UK) Dec 2012
"The Sydney Morning Herald once referred to Mara! as "the Dom Perignon of (Australia's) World Music Bands", it was perhaps a touch premature, but this collaboration between the group and their Bulgarian-style choir certainly meets that appellation...an unqualified success with its feeling of fresh adventure, sumptuous singing and depth of musical experience."
Read Tra Parole CD review in "The Australian" of April 14, 2012
Listen to some of the music from Tra Parole E Silenzio:
Track 1: "Prima Della Sera"
Watch video featuring "Partii Ch'era Il Giorno di Natale" studio recording (from Tra Parole E Silenzio CD), featuring archival stills and live footage from Woodford Festival amphitheatre stage on Dec 31 2011.
The Marais Project: 'Spinning Forth" produced by Llew Kiek, CD of the week ABC Classic FM
A new CD by the Marais Project "Spinning Forth" was CD of the week on ABC Classic FM in January. The album takes its name from a new work by Paul Cutlan, longtime Mara! band member, and the CD was produced by Llew. Two of the most-played tracks have been arrangements by Llew and Mara "The Cheshire Rounds" and "Streets of Forbes". One of many glowing reviews can be found here. Watch an interview with the composers and Jenny Eriksson, director of the Marais Project, below.
This month's featured videos:
The Marais Project CD "Spinning Forth"
Llew and Mara interviewed about their composition "Streets of Forbes" which features on this new release: CD of the week on ABC Classic FM January 2018
M'en Allant Sur la Lande
CrossRoads, from "De Partir...C'est Mon Plaisir" featuring Llew and Mara Kiek, Padrig Sicard, Yann Cariou, Steve Elphick and Bagad Cap Caval drummers
Key photographers: Karen Steaines, Regis Lansac, Steve Turner, Jo Van der Meer and Tracey Schramm. Designers Michele Turcsanyi and Ibi Szentirmay. Webdesigner Bradley Major
|