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CO.AS.IT. presentsILARIA CROCIANI: CONNECTING THE DOTS
Live performance
with Mirko Guerrini – sax, duduk, keyboards, harmonium
and Geoff Hughes – guitars
Friday 20 September 2024, 6:30-8pm.
CO.AS.IT., 199 Faraday Street, Carlton.
Tickets $ 10. Registration & payment here: https://www.coasit.com.au/events/events-archive/1017-illaria-crociani-connecting-the-dots
Come and meet the first female opal prospector in Australia, Minnie Berrington, and Marion Bell, the first woman to cross our incredible continent at the wheel of her Oldsmobile in the early Twenties. Learn about Istrian migrant, Gina Sinozich, who became an acclaimed Australian painter starting to paint when she was 70, and discover the untold story of famous supermodel Veruschka. And what about Mary Lou, the pony mare who was the sole companion to Shirley Howard in her overlanding in Australia in search for work, during the Great Depression?
Award winning singer and songwriter Ilaria Crociani, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Mirko Guerrini and Geoff Hughes on guitar, will introduce us to a world of wonders, telling us more about the incredible women at the centre of Ilaria’s latest album, Connecting the Dots. Commissioned and produced by the ABC Jazz, Connecting the Dots is a collection of songs inspired by some astounding female characters of Australia’s past and beyond, whose lives are a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
Join us at CO.AS.IT. for another episode of our Conversazioni concertanti / Concert and Conversation series, where music and storytelling meet to inspire you and uplift you.
Bios
Ready to embark on a tour in Australia to present her latest ABC JAZZ recording Connecting the Dots, Ilaria Crociani is originally from Florence, and a former Italian barrister. Music has been her forever passion since very young. After studying piano at the Conservatorium in Florence in her early teens, she went on to perform as alto saxophonist, eventually discovering her true passion: singing. She collaborated for years with various combos and big bands in Tuscany, also participating in various Italian and European festivals in the early 2000s (among others, Umbria Jazz and Tarragona Jazz Festival). After moving to Australia, alongside her husband, saxophonist Mirko Guerrini, she formed the ensembles Radiosuccessi jazz quintet and Extasy Morricone septet, recently performing and recording with some of the most renowned musicians in Melbourne such as pianists Tony Gould and Paul Grabowsky and lutenist John Griffiths. She has won numerous awards during her career as a lyricist and composer (Teatro Politeama Pratese, International Competition for Lyricists 2012-2014, semifinalist in Songwriting Competition USA 2020, 2023). Ilaria was awarded an ABC Classic and Jazz Composer Commissioning Fund, a 2021 Arts Grant from the city of Melbourne and a 2022 Commission from the ABC Kids Listen to produce Evergreen, a small collection of children’s songs with bilingual lyrics in Italian and English.
www.ilariacrociani.com
Mirko Guerrini was born in Florence in 1973. He studied piano, saxophone, classical composition and jazz music at the Cherubini Conservatorium in Florence, as well as jazz saxophone with Dave Liebman in New York. Award-winning, eclectic and multi-instrumentalist, composer and conductor, he has 21 albums to his credit as a solo saxophonist and leader of jazz ensembles. He currently leads the Mirko Guerrini Horizontal Quartet (Andrea Keller, Tamara Murphy and Niko Schäuble) and is co-leader of the acclaimed group Torrio! with Paul Grabowsky and Niko Schäuble. Guerrini has performed with Billy Cobham, Caetano Veloso, Stefano Bollani, Enrico Rava, Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Paul McCandless etc. As an educator, Guerrini is an Adjunct Fellow and Teaching Associate at Monash University, and an adjunct teacher at Melbourne University. He also teaches saxophone and clarinet and directs big bands of all levels at various colleges in Melbourne. In 2020 Mirko Guerrini received a Dean’s Sessional Commendation at Monash University for “outstanding contribution to teaching and learning in the Faculty of Arts”. He has been invited as a visiting professor at UTAS Hobart in Australia and at the Banff Center for Performing Arts in Canada (2010, 2012), and was a speaker at the “Musical Perspectives” conference at Warwick University, Warwick, UK in 2012. www.mirkoguerrini.com
With 35+ years of professional experience playing and teaching in Australia and overseas, a strong harmonic sensibility, and an exploratory instinct for tone colour and musical touch, Geoff Hughes is a unique voice on the Australian scene. Originally from NZ, Geoff graduated from the Hague Conservatorium in 1989, then taught at Massey University in Wellington NZ before moving to Melbourne in 1994. Geoff taught at the VCA for 23 years, from 1995, joining the permanent staff in 2001 teaching guitar, aural training and theory. Geoff has performed around Australia and recorded with many of the country’s leading artists, and as regular sideman with acclaimed singer Michelle Nicolle, Australian Jazz legend Allan Browne and others. He has toured internationally with the Michelle Nicolle Quartet (MNQ), with performances in Asia and Europe including the prestigious Northsea Festival, the Tokyo Jazz Festival as well as festivals in Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The MNQ has recorded 7 CD releases (4 with ABC Jazz), including the Bell award winning tribute to Duke Ellington “A Flower is a Lonesome Thing”, “The Bach Project” and a live DVD in Korea. The MNQ continues to perform regularly around Melbourne and Australia. Geoff has also recorded 6 CDs with the late Allan Browne, including his trio CD “the Drop” and the Allan Browne Quintet’s recordings “Cyclosporin,” “The Drunken Boat” and “A Season in Hell”, “Conjuror” and “Ithaca Bound” for all of which he co-composed the music.
Image: Ilaria Crociani, © Kevin Peterson photography
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
189-199 Faraday Street, Carlton, VIC, Australia, Victoria 3053, Co As It, 189-193 Faraday St, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia,Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Tickets
