LISA YOUNG is renown as a creative vocal stylist and improviser incorporating Indian and African influences in her work.
In 2003 her composition ‘Thulele Mama Ya’ (with Coco’s Lunch) won ‘Best Folk/World Song’ in the CARA awards in the USA, and in 2007 her jazz quartet’s album ‘GRACE’ won ‘Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album 2007’ at the ‘Bell’ Awards.
She has completed a Master of Music Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts which included a thesis in Konnakol (South Indian vocal percussion).
The Lisa Young Quartet is essentially a jazz/world music ensemble, ‘The topography crosses Jazz, Indian and African terrain…Young opens with the stunning solo machine-gun fire of wordless vocals where the rhythms are repeated, extended and then moved across the pulse…electrifying’ Leon Gettler, The Age.
She has thrice visited Chennai for advanced konnakkol studies with mridangam virtuoso Karraikudi Mani. In 2008 she received an Australia Council Project Fellowship enabling her to further her Konnakkol study in India and compose new works. Her latest release The Eternal Pulse is an evocative journey of sound and song, layering Indian elements and rhythmic textures. This is the major project she is creating for her PhD in music performance candidature at Monash University where she was awarded the Pratt Post-Graduate Scholarship.
She is a founding member of vocal and percussion group Coco’s Lunch. They have recorded 5 Cds or original music for both adults and children, in 2007 received 2 ARIA nominations, and have toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe, Canada and Asia.
A passionate workshop leader, her works have been performed by choirs throughout Australia and the USA. In 2008 she completed a commission for the Australian Voices Choir 'Other Plans' .
‘a highly individual singer…her voice is rich and supple, and her singing is obviously informed by more than just jazz…the music is often at once earthy and delicate, melodic and abstract.’ – Doug Spencer
‘the audience was transfixed’- Jessica Nicholas, The Age
‘Words seem inadequate to describe the uniqueness of this extraordinary singer. A stunning vocal talent’ Billy Pinnell The MAG
‘she introduces the listener to new vistas. Check out the konnakkol ….machine-gun-like rhythms of her wordless vocals…To be listened to and savoured.’ **** Leon Gettler The AGE Green Guide
'Remarkable grace in amazing voice' - Jessica Nicholas, The Age
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