BEAUTIFUL NOISE 7:50PM – 9:20PM
DAMI IM
Dami Im is a Korean-born Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist performing artist. She won the fifth season of The X Factor Australia and subsequently received a recording contract with Sony Music Australia.
After winning The X Factor, Im released her debut and winner’s single “Alive“, which debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. This was followed by the release of her self-titled second studio album, which debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.
Im represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden, with the song “Sound of Silence“, where she came second overall with a total of 511 points, Australia’s highest ever position.
GLENN SHORROCK
With a career spanning over 40 years, Glenn Shorrock is one of the elder statesmen of Australian contemporary show business. Born in England, Glenn migrated at the age of 10 to Adelaide where he began singing in 1962 with a vocal group called the Twilights. By 1965, the Twilights became a six-piece beat group based in Melbourne scoring hits with ‘Needle in a Haystack’, ‘What’s Wrong with the Way I Live?’, ‘Cathy Come Home’ and ‘Young Girl’, before disbanding in 1969.
Axiom with Brian Cadd followed shortly thereafter, with hits including ‘Arkansas Grass’ and ‘Little Ray of Sunshine’. Glenn returned to Melbourne to help form Little River Band as lead singer. Little River Band cracked the lucrative United States market in 1976 and began a string of eight Top Ten Hits in the U.S.A. and around the world. The band has sold more than 25 million albums, often being credited for opening the door for many Australian acts on the international circuit.
RICHARD CLAPTON
Richard Clapton is a much-loved legend of Australian music, the performer and songwriter of many iconic Australian hit songs: ‘Deep Water’, ‘Best Years of Our Lives’, ‘Goodbye Tiger’, ‘Glory Road’, ‘Lucky Country’, ‘I am An Island’, ‘Trust Somebody’, ‘Capricorn Dancer’ and ‘Girls on the Avenue’ (the latter referencing the street in Rose Bay where Clapton once lived).
Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane described Clapton as “one of the most important Australian songwriters “. On 12 October 1999, Clapton was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. To date he has released twenty albums, many of which have achieved gold or platinum status. In 2018 he will be celebrating 40 years in the music industry.
JOSH PYKE
Acclaimed multi-ARIA Award winning acoustic troubadour Josh Pyke is one of Australia’s most respected and successful musicians, with an extensive career that has taken him across the country and around the world.
Throughout his momentous career Josh has received four ARIA Awards, with a further nine nominations, has played two sold out shows at the Sydney Opera House backed by the Sydney Orchestra and has had nine songs appear in triple J’s Hottest 100 countdowns.
Josh’s ability to actively engage his audience drives fans to return year after year to witness his onstage presence. He has played at some of the country’s biggest music festivals including Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival, Southbound, Homebake, Big Day Out, Woodford Folk Festival, West Coast Blues N Roots and many more.
EMMA PASK
Award winning vocalist Emma Pask has firmly established herself as one of Australia’s favourite voices in Jazz. Her effortless honest stage presence combined with her powerful vocal ability, leaves audiences spellbound and inspired whenever she takes to the stage.
Emma has performed at Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s wedding and has had the honour to sing for VIP audiences including the late Diana Princess of Wales and Princess Mary of Denmark. Recently she played support to legendary guitarist/vocalist George Benson and has just returned from supporting Grammy Award winning American vocalist Kurt Elling on his Australian Tour.
Emma is a “Mo” award winner for Jazz Vocalist of the year and has received two ARIA award nominations for Best Jazz Album of the Year in 2014 and 2016.
NADAV KAHN
Nadav Kahn is an Israeli-born award-winning singer/songwriter. Since signing his first major record deal with EMI Music for his art rock band Gelbison, he has toured the world with several collaborative and solo projects, releasing 10 albums to date. In 2009, Nadav received the prestigious Australian APRA Music Award for “Song of the Year” for co-writing & co-producing the Old Man River song “Sunshine”.
Over the past fourteen years he has studied the mystical powers of sound in India and has immersed himself in Jewish mysticism. This journey has shaped the creation of Nadav’s devotional albums in both Hebrew and Sanskrit and opened up his exploration of pop music as the mantra of the masses.
ALEXIS FISHMAN
In 2012 Alexis Fishman was awarded the New York Musical Festival’s “Next Broadway Sensation” title and made her solo debut at the prestigious 54 Below. She is the creator and star of Club Gelbe Stern, a one-woman musical set in Berlin 1933 which debuted at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and is continually performed both in Australia and the US. For her performance, Alexis was awarded ‘Outstanding Individual Performance’ at the New York Musical Festival’s Excellence Awards. Her most recent cabaret, Boychiks of Broadway, made its international debut at Shir Madness in 2016 followed by runs at the Sound Lounge in Sydney and Pangea in New York City.
HANNAH JOY
Hannah Joy is lead singer/guitarist with Sydney alternative indie rock band Middle Kids which also includes her husband, multi-instrumentalist and producer Tim Fitz, and drummer Harry Day. They have released one self-titled EP and an album entitled ‘Lost Friends’. Recently touring the States for 3 months they performed at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, where a 5000-strong audience sang along with Joy to the group’s rhapsodic breakthrough single Edge of Town. They have also performed as openers for Ryan Adams, Cold War Kids and many others.
DAN ROSEN
Dan Rosen, curator of this year’s Song of Songs concert, is a songwriter and artist, born and raised in the Melbourne borsht belt. His debut single with his band Second Dan won Triple J Unearthed in 2003 and went on to be one of the most played Australian songs on radio for the year.
After relocating to New York, Second Dan released two albums and toured extensively throughout the States. Dan became a sought-after songwriter and collaborator in New York’s Lower East Side music scene. His songs have been used across numerous US TV shows on NBC, MTV and Netflix.
Swapping his guitar for the executive suite, he now spends his time championing the Australian music industry as Chief Executive of ARIA.
DONI ZASLOFF
Doni Zasloff is an award-winning singer, songwriter, and author and is regarded as one of the most influential Jewish performers in the twenty-first century. She has released CDs and DVDs including Chanukah Fever, Shabbat Shaboom, Emunah, Mama Doni’s Jewish Holiday Party and The Acoustic Jewish Holiday Collection. She also co-authored the book Get Cooking! Doni is a beloved presence on stage and tours regularly nationwide with both Mama Doni for kids and the Nefesh Mountain bluegrass band.
BEK JENSEN
Sydney musician, Bek Jensen, is a quiet storm who rages to a pop banshee. She’s a cheeky, soulful pop songstress who aims to make the heart sing.
As the Choir Master for the acclaimed, Welcome Choir in Newtown, she has found herself teaching hundreds of Sydney singers pop songs to raise the level of joy and nurture the community through song.
Bek, has recorded and toured nationally with some of Australia’s finest artists including Cold Chisel, Jimmy Barnes, Tina Harrod, Sleepy Jackson, Jack Vidgen, Paul McDermott and has released numerous recordings under various guises.