Tom Thum: Armed with just a microphone, Thum pushes the limits of the human voice to create incredible soundtracks of impossible beats and phenomenal sounds, with scratched vinyl, the Michael Jackson back-catalogue, the didgeridoo and an entire fifties jazz band amongst his vocal repertoire. Thom’s performance was one of few music talks selected for TED.com. It has received over 10 million views.
Hyperpotamus is a troubadour of the 21 century, he gives voice to his music all around the world. Armed with microphones and a loops pedal, Hyperpotamus rejects cheap effectism and tricks. Using the primary element of voice and dancing at the shadow of the melody and the rhythm, Hyperpotamus chisels his vulcanic voice.
Critically acclaimed singer/song-writer Nneka‘s voice strikes an eerie balance between rage and pain as she offers commentary on key social issues. To share her personal story, she performs “Suffri” and “My Home”, which were inspired by “life’s big questions” she explains.
Born in Salvador, in 1974, Mikael Mutti is a Pianist, arranger and music producer. Self-taught, he began playing professionally at 12 years old. At 19 he began to dedicate himself to recording albums and at 22 was already working in the studios as an arranger and creator WR in major advertising campaigns, where he recorded albums and made arrangements for many of the leading artists of Bahia. Since 22, Mikael has participated in international tours watching Brazilian artists and taken part in the major events and international music festivals.
His arrangements feature an electronic sound fused with percussion roots. Mikael is also dedicated to the study of improvisation, having done important work in instrumental music from Bahia.
Mikael Mutti is now head of the group PMN – Percussion New World, whose idea is to combine percussion with new digital technologies and new forms to make music. The New World Percussion Percussion custom blend with the unique style of playing “digital percussion.”
Mikael has also participated as a producer and composer on the soundtrack of the movie “Rio” producing the song “Real in Rio” nominated for an Oscar in the category best original song in 2012.
Bobby is an internationally renowned tabla player, talented and skilled in both traditional Indian classical music and cross cultural genres, lauded throughout Australia and internationally for his work with acts that straddle the divide between tradition and modernity.
Finding inspiration for music and lyrics from within and around the world, singer/songwriter Garrett Borns performs his eclectic fusion of sound, story and wordplay.
Djazia grew up in Algiers enjoying opera, 60s pop and chaabi. Her endless sense of artistic freedom has seeded an Arab style groove on top on string sensations.
For about one year Manuel Bürkli (Mañana) was recording bits and pieces of music, taking the freedom to have no expectations in his work and collect as many rough ideas as possible. “I felt a need to play around with music and words without having a final product in mind — I wanted to stop writing songs for some time”.
Since Summer 2011 he has been shaping and creating songs out of this archive of melodies and sounds, together with his friends Ralph Tharayil (The Hoanhiêu) + Simon Hauswirth and Jascha Dormann (laFayette).
Southern UK boys The Baker Brothers have been rocking dance floors far and wide for nearly 10 years. With 7 albums, 2 full length live DVDs and numerous other releases, they deliver an explosive, dynamic, killer funk show! Their infectious, raw beats and bass lines underpin edgy melodic section horns and soulful, winding vocals. They have worked along side vocal talents such as Average White Band’s Hamish Stewart, London soul diva – Vanessa Freeman as well as UK percussion legend Snowboy. The Baker Brothers consist of drums, bass, guitar tenor sax and trumpet. Their work so far has gained critical acclaim by the likes of Mark Lamarr, Craig Charles, DJ Muro, Keb Darge and Guestlove from The Roots.
Winner of NPR’s prestigious Mountain Stage New Song Contest, Amber Rubarth writes songs of courageous vulnerability so personal that they touch the universal. Rubarth’s fifth album, produced by Jacquire King (who also worked with Tom Waits and Norah Jones), debuted at No. 13 on iTunes’ songwriter chart and features duets with Jason Reeves and Jason Mraz. For seven years she has toured extensively and has appeared at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. Her songs have attracted enthusiastic praise from NPR, The Huffington Post, BBC Radio, Acoustic Guitar Magazine and the legendary Sun Studio. Her live performance is now airing nationwide on PBS.
A two-time Grammy nominee and winner of SONY records Elevated Standards Award for excellence in classical music, cello soloist Dave Eggar has performed throughout the world, including at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and Paris Opera. A graduate of Juilliard’s prestigious doctoral program and Harvard University, Eggar has released five solo records and toured and recorded with imminent artists including The Who, Patti Smith, Coldplay, Tony Bennett, Andrea Bocelli and Evanescence.
Max ZT, lauded as the “Jimi Hendrix of the hammered dulcimer” by NPR, is an innovator of the instrument. Drawing from classical Irish folk music, Max has transplanted his compositional techniques to both Senegal and Mumbai, where he received a grant to study under the great santoor master Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. His fresh perspective a
Gas of Latvia are doers, not speakers. The author of music, Andris Indāns, and the author of video, Katrīna Neiburga, will participate in TEDxRiga with the audiovisual composition Centrefūga. Gas of Latvia have since 1996 released more than 10 albums, and have performed numerous concerts in Latvia and Europe.
At the age of eighteen, Michelle Blades threw a dart at a map and it landed in Arizona, thus beginning her move to the Valley of the Sun. Since then, she has been traveling and documenting life through her music and photography, while searching for the subtle similarities that stitch the quilt of massively different groups of people.
Violinist for the Panamanian National Symphony Orchestra, music educator Chelín Nuñez invites her friends basist Fernando del Rio and percussionist Alfredo Hidrovo on stage to share her hypnotic fresh take on Panamanian folcloric music.
María Belén Fratti (Mabe) is a cellist, vocalist and experimental composer. She started learning piano at age four and learned cello at 8. She identifies herself with a wide array of musicians and stiles, encouraging her to be a part of several music projects. She was part of the alt rock band Two Miles From Shore. She started another band in 2010, which released her fascination for experimenting with sounds, called Fraaek.
María Belén Fratti (Mabe) es una chelista, vocalista y compositora experimental. Empezó su carrera musical a la edad de cuatro años aprendiendo piano, pero cuatro años más tarde empezó a estudiar el cello, instrumento que aún estudia. Su interpretación en diversos lugares ha ampliado su visión musical y ha logrado identificarse con diferentes músicos, nacionales e internacionales. Esa conexión la llevó a participar en varios proyectos y conocer diversos géneros musicales. Fue parte de la banda de rock alternativo, Two Miles From Shore, grabando un EP del mismo nombre a finales del 2009. A mediados del 2010, formó otra banda nombrada Fraaek, en la cual libera aun más su fascinación por la experimentación musical. Esta banda grabó un EP titulado “Las Olas” a finales del mismo año de su fundación. Mabe ha logrado compartir con otras bandas y músicos en su carrera tales como Hot Sugar Mama, Woodser, Switchfoot, Miguel Ángel Villagrán, Republi-k, entre otros. Lo que más aprecia de su trayectoria musical es la infinidad de proyectos que han provisto a su producción musical muchos conceptos a explotar.
Talented swedish singer and songwriter Emma Fällman performs Release me. Original music & lyrics by Frida Öhrn.
The song makes a statement about human potential and was performed right after Oxford philosopher Anders Sandbergs talk on bio-ethics, neo evolution and the nagging question we all keep asking ourselves. What does it mean to be human?
For twenty years, Billy McLaughlin astounded audiences around the world with his complex and rhythmic music. In 2001, Billy was diagnosed with Focal Dystonia, an incurable neuromuscular disease that rendered him unable to play his own music. By 2002, Billy McLaughlin’s career was over.
In 2006, Billy began a comeback. He was doing the unthinkable – relearning his songs left handed.
Musician, performer and developer Tim Exile is a pioneer of live interactive electronic music. A child of the nascent electronic music scene of the late 90s he was inspired by the bold new world of sounds available but frustrated by the inability to play these hands on like he could his childhood instrument the violin. A prolific musician with 3 acclaimed albums under his belt he turned his hand to developing his own instrument for performing and improvising in this sound world. Having created his dream machine and some hit software packages to boot he is now embracing online and real world audiences in the live creative process by using sounds created by them on the fly. The live crowd-sourcing revolution is here.
Simone Porter is an accomplished violinist; her list of achievements is extensive– performing in Carnegie Hall for a nationally syndicated program, playing her violin for the Dalai Lama (and over 50,000 other people), and playing with orchestras around the globe.
TEDxRedmond is “by kids, for kids” with a theme of “Power to the Students.” With over four hundred youth attendees watching in the all-youth theater, this was one of the largest TEDx events entirely for youth. Organized by an all-youth committee headed by former TED speaker Adora Svitak, TEDxRedmond focused on issues (like education) pertaining to youth as well as adults.
Yodhakaa is a contemporary Indian music band that evolved around the idea of finding a bridge between the traditional and contemporary. Their music is a collage of all the inspirations and influences they have encountered in their journey as artists. They hope to evolve, embrace more cultures, languages and people, because they don’t want to remain a bunch of musicians forever. They want to make noise; they want their voices to be heard… because they have so many things to say, so many messages to send.
Armed with just her cello and a small box of electronics, Zoe Keating is a one-woman orchestra. She records layer upon layer of celio, her feet dancing over an array of pedals to transform her solo performances into multipart works.
As the protagonist of an immensely popular series of books written by his father in the late 1980s, Shiuan’s daily life in a New York public high school became well-known to an entire generation of Taiwanese students. Shiuan is a writer, musician, psychologist and DJ.
James Gruntz makes post-pop music — pop with a little bit of distance and reflection. He is one of these young musicians (in fact, he claims to have been the first one) who want to reach the masses with their music without being limited to a certain style. He doesn’t believe in the capitalism that is prevalent in pop music; instead he wants to make affordable and good music for everyone — or «frisson affordable» as he says the French say.
Olas is a band of musicians and dancers heavily influenced by Andalusian Flamenco and Arabic folk music, translated through a blend of American folk, rock, Arabic, and Afro-Cuban sounds. Olas is an original, all-acoustic mash-up of raw and passionate music and dance.
Meesha Shafi — known as the “Dam Gutkoo Girl” hit the Pakistan’s Music Industry hard with her rocking voice in Coke Studio 3. She is considered one of the leading top models among the fashion Icons of Pakistan. As you can see, she is a dynamic , young women who has substance and talent and is much more than just a pretty face.
Liliane and Clara’s performance is based on both improvised contemporary dance & electroacoustic music. It explores the extents of both disciplines responding live to each other.
Known cordially as Mogui, Marcelo dominates the flute, as well as a long list of instruments that include saxophone, clarinet and bass clarinet, flutes, harmonica, duduk (Armeniaflute), bagpipes and piano. Enjoy the “multi-instrumenatlist.”
Claron McFadden. “The human voice is mysterious, spontaneous and primal…its breath is the caption of this essence…” says the world-renowned Soprano Claron McFadden. While looking for her own essence in a silent retreat in Thailand, she was asked to sing. When the woman remarked “it’s like meditation,” she realized that the calmness, focus and ‘being in the moment’ she was looking for already existed in her singing… and this moment is delivered between her and the audience through her voice.
Lewis is a 13-year-old piano phenomenon. He began composing at age five. In 2005, he was a top finalist in the International Russian Piano Music Competition, and in 2008, Lewis was featured on America’s Got Talent as a child prodigy. Lewis recently performed the “Star Spangled Banner” in front of a crowd of over 170,000 fans at Texas Motor Speedway. Lewis continues to use his gift to share that musical connection that is bigger than himself.
A vocal artist of the highest order, Mr.Percival takes his live audiences on a ride at every performance. With the use of a looping pedal, he has made a name for himself at festivals and concert halls around Australia.
Combining everything from traditional flamenco guitar (shown in this performances) and original songs to tongue twister like– rapidly delivered lyrical streams, beat boxing, live electronic sampling, and live looping using a range of cutting edge equipment; Tah Riq has now brought his show teetering over the bleeding edge of live performance.
Ard Matthews is known as one of South Africa`s most prolific singer/songwriters and his charismatic stage performances and catchy, heartfelt lyrics have led the way to the phenomenal success of Just Jinjer, who are to date the best selling, most successful rock band in South Africa. He shares the power of simplicity through music and experimentation.
Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland and surrounded by music since the age of 4, Eoin Harrington has traveled the globe and now resides in San Francisco where his music is causing quite a stir. This award winning songwriter has grabbed the attention of numerous heavyweights in the bay area and across America. Grammy award winning producer Scott Mathews has labeled him as one of the best artists he’s seen here in the bay area in the last 10 years and Eoin took a break from the studio to share “Confess” a track off his upcoming album.
(Baroque Orchestration X) is an artist collective exploring the full potential of early music instruments today, putting them in unorthodox settings and bringing them to a different audience.
Ever heard of theorbo, triple harp, positive organ, viola da gamba or cornetto? And even if you did, surely in this way you didn’t! Join the ride for an adventurous clash of cultures and sounds: PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Dez Mona and Monteverdi in an entirely new baroque instrumental language…
With: Lambert Colson (cornetto), Jon Birdsong (cornetto), Pieter Vandeveire (viola da gamba), Sam Faes (cello), Nicolas Rombouts (double bass), Mario Sarrechia (positive organ) Jutta Troch (triple harp), Mattijs Vanderleen,(drums) Pieter Theuns (theorbo, artistic direction), Arne Leurentop (vocals, violin), Liesa Van der Aa (vocals, violin) Gregory Frateur (vocals)
The Setlist:
#1: Toccata / F.M. Bassano
#2: Grow, grow, grow / P.J. Harvey
#3: Sinfonia / Claudio Monteverdi
#4: Pyramid song / Radiohead
#5 Soldiers / Gregory Frateur
**All Baroque Orchestrations by Pieter Theuns and BOX**
Alia Christian, a 15 year-old Georgia song writer
and musician is blazing her own trail in country
music with her unique flavor of pop-country.
She plays the piano, the guitar, sings and writes
her own music…and is getting noticed. Out of
thousands of entries submitted nationwide,
Alia’s song was picked to be one of 64 finalists
in Country Music Television’s Music City
Madness competition, season 3.
Noisia was number 1 in the UK Cool Cuts Top 20 and they made a sound track for the Heineken commercial. Robbie Williams and Moby asked Noisia to make a remix of their songs. That is the definition of a big success.
For years already, they are valued for their excellent productions. Characteristic for their music is a breathtaking production, claustrophobic bass frequencies and a constant stream of variations. In addition to drum ‘n bass breakbeat and house are often included in their productions. Noisia shows its unrestrained love for different genres.
In a twist to the sound of popular music, Peter Lee Johnson uses an electric violin and looping pedal to electrify audiences world-wide with personally written compositions and hits from Billboard.
Peter Lee Johnson is a Popular Music Performance student in the USC Thronton School of Music. A musical prodigy at the age of three, Peter has been performing since he was nine years old. As an accomplished musician, he has performed with artists such as Alan White (drummer for YES, John Lennon and Yoko Ono), Steve Miller, Lloyd Jones, and other outstanding musicians. Currently he is performing with “The Beat Advocate” and “The Luke Walton Band.”
Jason Olcese (Jason O) is a performer who is best described as “a healthy mix of Jason Mraz and Keller Williams.” On stage, Jason uses live looping to incorporate guitar, bass, vocals, harmonies, percussion, piano, harmonica, ukulele, and trumpet all in one inspiring show. Continue reading →
Karsu Dönmez (1990) is a pianist and singer from Amsterdam of Turkish descent. She is seen as a major talent in the field of jazz and is being called the Dutch Norah Jones. Young as she is, she has already performed in Carnegie Hall in New York twice, and played her repertoire of original music, easy listening, classical and ethnic music in the world reknowned Concertgebouw. She is also a regular performer on Dutch TV, and has recently signed up with AT Productions/Sony Music.
Karsu and violinist Muge Alpay sing “I’ll leave alone,” followed by the Turkish song “Cok Uzaklarda.”
Leonie Casanova is a London-based singer-songwriter. She was born and raised in Zambia to an Italian father and Zambian mother, and schooled in Swaziland, England and the USA where she studied Economics and French Literature. Leonie draws inspiration from complex relationships and life’s abundance of opportunities that rise from difficulty.
Paul Kelly is one of the most significant singer/songwriters in Australia. Here’s his solo rendition of one of his best-loved songs, chosen as the final performance of TEDxSydney 2011.
As well as issuing an enduring body of work with his own bands, Kelly has recorded film scores (Lantana and the Cannes 2006 highlight, Jindabyne) and written songs with and for many other artists.
Songs From The South, a selection of his popular songs first assembled in 1997 and expanded to a double album in 2008, continues to have wide appeal, with many of his songs now lodged deep in the Australian psyche.
In a stirring performance, acclaimed singer and songwriter Darden Smith shares — and sings — his journey from aspiring rock star to song writing champion for those struggling to regain their voice, among them soldiers just returning from war.
Henock Temesgen is a bass guitarist, passionate musician, co-founder and teacher at the African Jazz School in Addis Ababa and a leading figure in the Ethiopian Music scene.