Songs for Those Who’ve Come Across the Seas

Andy is a director of theatre, music theatre and opera. He has also worked as creative producer of multidisciplinary arts programs, producer of large-scale events and festival director. In 2007 Andy co-founded Adelaide based theatre company Slingsby. The company’s productions have received 16 industry awards and toured to more than 100 theatres in over 70 cities and towns across 12 countries.

Andy is renowned for creating original live performance moments that are emotionally powerful and visually bold. His work across theatre for young audiences, opera, cabaret, music theatre and symphonic concerts has pushed him to develop a distinctive theatrical form that is at once personal and epic.

Andy has directed productions, concerts and events for Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, State Opera of South Australia, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide Chamber Singers, Australian String Quartet, Windmill Theatre, Restless Dance, Tutti Ensemble, Rundle Mall Management Authority and the International Astronautical Federation. In 2019 Andy was Show Director for the World of WearableArt Awards Show in Wellington, New Zealand. Andy was Creative Producer of Programming at Carclew Youth Arts 2003-2006, Creative Producer of Family Events for Adelaide Fringe Festival 2007-2008 and Creative Director of Come Out Festival 2011.

His work includes music for plays such as The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy, and When the Rain Stops Falling; many works for orchestra that have been played in Germany, Canada, and by the leading Australian orchestras; and soundtracks for films and documentaries broadcast on the ABC and SBS. He also writes for concert performances and film, and plays in many groups: from rock to new music and, most recently wild gypsy music with Golonka.

He is co-director of The Firm, a company that presents concerts each year featuring Australian classical musicians in programmes of new Australian music along side interesting repertoire. In 2013 his first opera, An Ode to Nonsense, was premiered by Slingsby and the State Opera of South Australia.

Quincy lives in Adelaide with four dear ones – Anna, Arland, Clara and Miranda.

He then studied at Flinders Drama Centre and did additional training with Gerrard MacArthur at RADA in London. He has worked for all of Australia’s major theatre companies and been involved in the development of many new Australian works. Cameron recently premiered a one-man show in The Adelaide Cabaret Festival The Sound Of Falling Stars, in which he played 30 male singers who died before their time. He also recently completed a long run playing Zazu in Disney’s The Lion King. Prior to that he spent three years with Sydney Theatre Company’s full-time acting ensemble under the direction of Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton.

Cameron is also an ARIA award winning singer/composer (The Audreys). He has composed music for film and television and for many other shows, often in collaboration with song-writing partners David Heinrich and Quincy Grant (including previous Adelaide Cabaret Festival hits Little Bird and You, Me And The Bloody Sea).

A childhood spent in the laid-back tropical climes of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Leah brings a refreshing and unique authenticity to her work. You can hear the echo of artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello, Martha Wainwright, Joan As Police Woman and Trixie Whitley in Leah’s vocal delivery. You can hear and feel the depth of emotion she invests in her songs and the honest stories that populate them. On stage you’ll also experience some of the tales and inspiration behind Leah’s songs and enlivened by a rich musicality – whether backed by a full band or solo with ukulele (in the Northern Saltwater country style), acoustic, or  electric guitar in hand.

With Venetian, Aboriginal and Irish heritage, Leah has a fascinating historical, geographical and cultural mix to draw from. As a result, she possesses a versatility and stylistic range that has seen her work with a long list of diverse musicians and projects.

Satomi started playing orchestral percussion at the age of 12, then studied jazz drumming with maestro, Takeshi Inomata in Tokyo. She has played extensively in Japan with the Soulful Unity Jazz Orchestra and her groups, Vivace and Jackpot, the latter winning two major jazz contests. Satomi won the Best Player Award at the 1993 Asakusa Jazz Contest and her group was then twice invited to perform at the Manley Jazz Festival. In Adelaide, she plays regularly with Black Fedora Jazz as well as with several other ensembles covering blues, Latin and Bulgarian music styles. She joined the Brendan Fitzgerald Trio in 2012 and performed with the group in Beijing, Shanghai and at the Hong Kong Performing Arts Centre Street Concert. Satomi has appeared twice at The Hoot!, Adelaide Hills Jazz Festival and at 2014 The Clare Valley Carnival of Music performing with Brendan Fitzgerald and Svilen Panayatov accordian duo, Latin-jazz group Ah Hum! and holding her own multi-cultural percussion session/workshop.

Satomi Onishi is also a physical chemist with specific expertise in scanning probe microscopy and surface physics.

Gareth regularly works with Australian ensembles The Zephyr Quartet, Golonka, The Baker Suite, The Various Nefarious, The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and other Art music ensembles as an accordionist, as well as regularly recording for theatre companies, Slingsby and Brink. He is also a regular collaborator with cabaret star, Anya Anastasia.

As a writer, Gareth composes for gypsy outfit Golonka, theatre, and doco/mockumentaries on SBS and ABC tv, as well as being a former member of world music group The Meru Vibe, which has shared the stage with The Bamboos, Sneaky Sound System, and international electro/tabla sensation, Talvin Singh.

Gypsy outfit Golonka!, has played at numerous Australian festivals, including The Adelaide Arts Festival, Womadelaide, and shared the stage with many interstate and international groups including Zulya & The Children of the Underground, and has recently represented Australia as part of the UNESCO Cities of Music project in the Hamamatsu World Music Festival in Japan…

In 2017, Gareth composed the music for William Yang & Annette Shun Wah’s work in the Adelaide Festival of Arts, ‘Backstories’. (CAAP : Contemporary Asian Australian Performance)

Geoff has worked as an Event Producer, Production Manager, Lighting Designer, Set Designer, Public Artist and Venue Designer. His work has ranged from many smaller innovative productions at the Performance Space, Queens Theatre, Belvoir, Red Shed, non-theatre venues (tents, warehouses and more) to large-scale theatre/dance productions, festivals, art exhibitions, events, museums and venue creation. His love of light and dance has led him to work with many of Australia’s top choreographers and allowed him to explore the endless combinations of colour, angle, intensity, and movement, of light. With his company Bluebottle he has designed many lighting installations and lit public artworks, buildings, landscapes and freeways. Geoff received a Churchill Fellowship in 2010 to study Outdoor Theatre in Europe. This led to the creation of Barrio, inspired by the “participatory theatre” movement currently sweeping Europe. Finding innovative ways to involve community and other industry in Events was at the heart of Barrio. Its success was in the unique way it gave its audience ownership of the event. Geoff has been working on Festivals since the late 80s when he began working for Sydney Festival. He subsequently went on to become an integral part of the senior management teams of the Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Womadelaide Festival. Recent Awards include: 2015 Helpmann Award for Best Scenic Design for Little Bird; Ruby Award for Sustained Contribution; Green Room Award Best lighting Design for Night Letters; Sydney Theatre Award Best Lighting Design for Never Did Me Any Harm. Geoff is Slingsby’s Artistic Associate (Design).

Ailsa completed the Bachelor of Dramatic Art in Design (NIDA) in 2003. She has worked extensively as a set and costume designers in theatre, opera, dance, film and TV. Design credits for Slingsby include Ode to Nonsense, Mouse, Bird and Sausage, Emil and the Detectives, You, Me and the Bloody Sea and Songs for Those Who’ve Come Across the Seas. Ailsa was the Resident Designer for the State Theatre Company of SA in 2019. Recent credits for the State Theatre Company of SA include Ripcord, Gaslight, Jasper Jones, The 39 Steps, End of the Rainbow and Pride and Prejudice.

Chris is a lighting and video designer from Adelaide, South Australia. Following his completion of the Technical Production course at the Adelaide Centre of the Arts, Chris has continued to develop his experience across theatre, dance, and other live events in Australia and internationally.

Chris recently worked with the World of WearableArt in New Zealand to design the lighting for their 2019 arena show which was performed to 60,000 people. He designed and has been touring with the show 13 Ways to Look at Birds featuring Paul Kelly, James Ledger, Alice Keath and the Seraphim Trio.

Chris has worked with State Theatre Company of South Australia on A View from the Bridge, Brothers Wreck, In The Club, Terrestrial, Mr Burns, Red Cross Letters, Eh Joe for the Beckett Triptych, Gorgon, Masquerade, The Kreutzer Sonata, Maggie Stone and Little Bird. Chris has completed designs for Theatre Republic’s The Bleeding Tree, Lines, Is This Yours’ Angelique, Brink Productions’ Long Tan, Tiny Bricks’ Deluge. Australian Dance Theatre’s Of All Things, The Beginning of Nature Part 1 and Ignition 2016. Restless Dance Theatre’s Zizanie and Touched. Slingsby Theatre Company’s Songs for Those Who’ve Come Across the Seas, Emil and the Detectives and The Mouse, The Bird and The Sausage. Windmill Theatre Company’s Beep, Grug and the Rainbow, Big Bad Wolf and Story Thieves. Force Majeure’s Never Did Me Any Harm. Vitalstatistix’ Cher and Quiet Faith, Flying Penguin’s Bitch Boxer and Seawall.