The Auckland Queen Street Sing-Sing

After ARIA award-winning composer and producer David Bridie commented on a post of mine last year in November, I published a post about a handful of PNG musicians including George Telek and Airi Ingram who were about to play at the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) in Melbourne from November 20th – 23rd, 2008.

In December, these same artists together with World Vision, started HIV music workshops in Madang Province aimed at communicating to grassroots young men and women information about HIV.

Well, it seems that David Bridie, George Telek, Airi Ingram and their Sing Sing compatriots do not end their adventure there. On March 7th, they will be the stars of the main concert at the 2009 Auckland Festival.

After New Zealand, the Sing Sing group will tour the USA in May thanks to the support of the World Music Institute. They will have five major concerts to be performed at Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, New York, and Burlington.

NOTE:

GEORGE TELEK: (Rabaul, PNG) For twenty-five years, Telek (MBE) has been at the forefront of the PNG music scene internationally and at home. Telek’s songs, and his hauntingly beautiful voice, traverse many musical styles, from traditional to stringband to rock, capturing the proud cultural heritage of the Tolais people of PNG. Telek paints a different picture of PNG, a positive story of grassroots life to counteract the negative press usually generated.

AIRI INGRAM: (Gabagaba, PNG) Renowned for his work in DRUM DRUM, Airi is a drummer and percussionist with a sublime groove, equally adept at playing traditional Manus Island garamuts (slit log), Pacific World Beat or Dub reggae and hip hop drum kit style. Epitomising the Sing Sing theme of Australian and Melanesian musicians sharing their craft and songs, Airi has recently become director of the newly established Wantok Musik Foundation.

~ by Tavurvur on January 13, 2009.