ARETHA A Love Letter to the Queen of Soul

Highly celebrated, ARIA-nominated, award-winning Indigenous singer and songwriter Emma Donovan has been touring the country for over 20 years, performing soulful songs, and sharing powerful stories with audiences around the globe.

Emma first appeared on the stage with her renowned family band The Donovans, performing church song renditions with her mother Agnes, her five uncles and maternal grandparents Micko and Aileen.

Emma has toured and recorded with the best in the Australian music scene including Paul Kelly, The Teskey Brothers, Paul Grabowsky, Spinifex Gum and the late Uncle Archie Roach and Aunty Ruby Hunter. Emma is now best known for her work with greatly admired Melbourne rhythm combo The Putbacks and the extraordinary Black Arm Band project. Her collaboration with The Putbacks has won multiple awards including best Soul/RnB album 2021 (Crossover) and 2022 (Under These Streets) at the AIR Awards and Best Soul, Funk R&B or Gospel Act, Best Group and Best Album for ‘Crossover’ at the 2021 Music Victoria Awards.

On her mother’s side, Emma is part of the famed Donovan family of singers of the Gumbaynggirr people, of what is now known as Northern New South Wales. On her father’s side, Emma is of the Yamatji people, of what is now known as Western Australia.

Emma regularly performs songs in Gumbaynggirr and Noongar traditional languages, and shares stories to provide her audiences with an understanding of Country and community.

Following the release of EP THE LIFE OF MONTAIGNE and then debut album GLORIOUS HEIGHTS, Montaigne’s evolution as an artist was a journey fans and industry became part of, as they were able to witness them growth as a musician and performer on stages nationally. 

The release of GLORIOUS HEIGHTS featuring the ARIA Platinum certified single ‘Because I Love You’ propelled Montaigne onto more radars around the country and earned accolades including a #4 ARIA Chart position and the ‘Best Breakthrough Artist’ award at the 2016 ARIA Awards.

2019 saw the arrival of their sophomore album, a collection of observations and stories beautifully delivered against a backdrop of sprawling and theatrical sounds, fittingly titled COMPLEX. The album was representative of the artist who had been powering ahead in carving out their own lane in Australian music - bold and undeterred. 

2020 brought another pivotal moment for Montaigne, as they were selected to represent Australia at Eurovision in Rotterdam 2020, having won the Eurovision: Australia Decides competition with their stunning original song, ‘Don’t Break Me’. Returning in 2021 to represent Australia on the world stage in a live broadcast to Rotterdam with their single ‘Technicolour’.

Reining in their new era of music with the single Now (In Space), Australian pop maverick Montaigne followed the release collaborating with one of the world’s most celebrated and influential artists, David Byrne on their new single ‘Always Be You’. 

Thandi Phoenix is a dynamic artist - a vocal powerhouse with unique tone, magnetic energy & commanding stage presence. The South African / Australian roots her artistic beginnings in Soul and R&B. She began song writing in her teens and throguhout, her scope of sonic influences widened as she developed a deep love for electronic music and began experimenting with her sound. 

This is where Thandi Phoenix really hit her stride commercially with her unique take on dance infused pop, showcased not only in her solo work but through her list of successful collaborations with artists such as Rudimental , Sigma & Pat Lok to name a few. 

In 2021 her collaboration with Mell Hall, saw the duo take out longest reigning female lead #1 on the Australian ARIA Club Chart.

Some artists are just made for the stage, and Thandi is one of them. 

She has garnered a reputation for her outstanding high energy live performances and established herself as one of Australia’s best live performers. Playing at festivals such as Splendour In The Grass, Spilt Milk, This That, CurveBall and Womadelaide.

Her set at SITG was hailed by Triple J as the Saturday Standout performance, labelling it as ‘All class from front to end’. 

2022 has brought about many big shifts for Thandi, with more life experience, laser sharp focus and new music in the bag - Thandi Phoenix is ready to turn up the heat more than ever before! 

For many Australian audiences, the ‘First Lady of Soul and R&B’ is a description that takes stunning form in Thndo. 

A multi-faceted entertainer, Thndo is an artist whose work not only speaks truth to power, but as a performer her presence radiates a natural warmth and charisma that has endeared her to audiences nationwide for almost a decade. 

Ursula Yovich  is an extraordinary multi-hyphenate artist: an award-winning actor, playwright, singer, song-writer and storyteller in both stage and screen, performing on stages across Australia and internationally, including Carnegie Hall (Australia Plays Broadway), New York.

Ursula created and originated the titular role in Barbara and the Camp Dogs, which premiered at Belvoir Street Theatre and toured nationally, winning her a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical in 2019. Ursula also won Helpmann Awards for Best Female Actor in a Play in 2007 for Capricornia, and for her cabaret show, Magpie Blues (her 2010 album, Ursula Yovich Live, features songs from the show).

Other theatre credits include Badu Gili and Jerry Springer: The Opera at Sydney Opera House; Appropriate, Love and Information, The Golden Age, Power Plays, Bloodland, The Secret River, and The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui (STC); Neglected Musicals song cycle Well-Behaved Women; Red Carpet Cabaret (Darlinghurst Theatre); writing and performing in The Man with the Iron Neck for  Brisbane, Sydney, Darwin and Adelaide Festivals (Legs on the Wall); Dubboo – Life of a Songman, in collaboration with Archie Roach and Djakapurra Munyarryun (Bangarra); Diving For Pearls (Griffin);1967: Songs in the Key of Yes, later staged at Sydney and Adelaide Festivals (Secret Chord); Dot & the Kangaroo and Creature (Stalker Theatre); A Christmas Carol and guest on Wesley Enoch’s 20 Questions (Belvoir); Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children, (Queensland Theatre; Waltzing the Wilarra  (Yirra Yaakin); Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, (Windmill); One Night the Moon (Malthouse Theatre); Winyanboga Yurringa (Carriageworks) and the one woman play The Magic Hour  (Deckchair).

Ursula’s cabaret An Evening with Ursula Yovich debuted at Ensemble Theatre in 2022, and played The Sydney Festival 2023. She appeared in Four Little Birds  in 2015 for the Garmalang Festival, Darwin, (and MC’d the Festival’s Santos Opening Night Concert the previous year); Melbourne Comedy Festival (Eddie Perfect) in 2016 and toured extensively in Australia, NZ and the US with The Black Arm Band on their Dirtsong tour. Ursula has also appeared at Claire’s Kitchen in Sydney.

Ursula won a Best Supporting Actor Film Critic’s Circle Award in 2020 and an AACTA Best Supporting Actor nomination in 2019 for her role in the feature film Top End Wedding; other films include Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, Goldstone, This Winter, Around the Block, and Jindabyne.   Her small screen credits include Netflix’s Irreverent, Foxtel’s The Twelve, ABC’s Preppers, Amazon’s The Moth Effect, ABC iView’s Wakefield, Mystery Road, The Code, Devil’s Dust, Redfern Now, The Gamers, Faboriginal, How to Stay Married, Playschool, The Gods of Wheat Street, Doctor Doctor, Rake, and Wanted. Ursula is the voice of ‘Levi’ in the NITV/SBS children’s animated TV series, Little J & Big Cuz, on which she is also a writer.

Ursula has taken part in the National Playwrights Conference (Canberra), National Play Festival (Perth), National Script Workshops for Playwrighting Australia (Sydney), and was the recipient in 2015 of the Balnaves Foundation’s Indigenous Playwright’s Award and the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Individual Award.

Jada was born and raised on their mother’s country, Larrakia country (Darwin, NT), and has family ties to the Yanyuwa, Bardi and Wardaman peoples.

As a writer, Jada was awarded the Balnaves Indigenous Playwright’s Award in 2013 and the Mona Brand Emerging Playwright’s Award in 2016.

In 2014 their debut work BROTHERS WRECK was part of the main stage season at Belvoir to critical acclaim. It received a nomination at the 2014 Sydney Theatre Awards for Best New Australian Work, and made the shortlist for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting at the 2015 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. It was also nominated for Best Stage Play at the 2015 AWGIE Awards.

 Jada has worked extensively in theatre, including working as an assistant director for THE GLASS MENAGERIE in 2014, and WINDMILL BABY in 2011, both for Belvoir. 2015 saw Jada continue their collaboration with Belvoir, co-writing ELEKTRA/ORESTES with resident director Anne-Louise Sarks, and was dramaturg for KILL THE MESSENGER directed by Anthea Williams.

In 2016 Jada directed their first show at Belvoir TITLE & DEED. They also made the cross-over into television as Associate Script Producer on the second series of CLEVERMAN (Goalpost), also co-writing two episodes.

In 2016-2017 Jada completed a writing fellowship with Bell Shakespeare and in 2017 Jada was the Assistant Director on Sydney Theatre Company’s production THREE SISTERS, directed by Kip Williams.

In 2018 Jada directed their play BROTHERS WRECK at the Malthouse Theatre and the State Theatre Company of South Australia to rave reviews.

Jada has recently directed the acclaimed stage production THE SEVEN STAGES OF GRIEVING for Browns Mart Theatre, and also co-wrote JARRADAH GOORAGULLI DANCE OF THE BROLGAS with Mooradoop Kathy Mills, which premiered in April 2022 at Brown Marts Theatre, Darwin. 

Joe is an honours graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music holding Bachelors in Music (Percussion).  Joe has worked extensively worldwide as a musician and music director. 

Music direction credits include Dein Perry’s Tap Dogs, iOTA B-Girl (SOH), The Motown Show (Human Nature), Velvet (Organised Pandemonium), Gypsy (Hayes Theatre Co), Pigalle (Sydney Festival).  Joe is also the Musical Director for David Campbell (Luckiest Productions) and Marcia Hines’ live show Disco Inferno. 

Joe’s recent performance credits include Darlinghurst Theatre’s 2019 production of Once; the World Premiere of Dream Lover with David Campbell and the Helpmann Award winning Smoke & Mirrors with iOTA, directed by Craig Ilott.  Joe was a co-recipient of the Helpmann Award for Best Original Score with iOTA.

Joe is the soundtrack producer on the award winning, Velvet.  ‘The Original Cast Recording of Velvet’ was nominated for an ARIA award in 2016.  Recently, Joe has arranged and produced David Campbell’s 2021 album release ‘The Saturday Sessions’ and Marcia Hines’ upcoming new album, ‘The Gospel According To Marcia’.

Joe is the co-creator, composer and co-producer of the all-female percussion stage show, DrummerQueens which premiered at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in February 2021.