WHISPERS & ROARS
FESTIVAL
2022
Join us in hearing, seeing, laughing, gasping and celebrating new artworks by emerging artists! Sydney-based female-identifying artists aged 14-30 will be showcasing new work over a weekend-long festival.
SAT NOV 5, 2022
Session one: 1-4pm
Session two: 5-7.30pm
SUN NOV 6, 2022
Session three: 1-5pm
Session four: 5.30-6.45pm
Creative producers
PHAEDRA BROWN
Phaedra Brown is an independent dancer, choreographer and producer from Sydney. She works with improvisation, site-specific dance, film and digital technology. Her practice draws on a collage of elements from choreography, curating and public art.Phaedra is undertaking a Masters in Curating and Cultural Leadership at UNSW, and has completed a BFA (Dance) with Honours from the VCA and a Certificate IV in dance from Ev & Bow Dance Training Centre.
KATE WOODEN
Kate is an emerging actor and director in Sydney. Kate has recently appeared in Harness Ensemble’s, Where Shall We Meet and In the Event of Moon Disaster with Shopfront Arts Co-Op. Kate has previously performed in festival’s with ATYP, as well as the National Theatre of Paramatta where she received an award for Best Actress in their Sharp Short Festival. In a directing capacity, Kate has assisted Subtlenuance on their production of Morning Star and ATYP in their production of Lights in the Park.
Lead Artists
BRIA MCCARTHY
Bria McCarthy is an emerging writer and theatre maker working in Western Sydney. She has trained and worked professionally with organisations such as Q Theatre, ATYP, PYT, Shopfront Arts Coop, WSU Centre for Society and Research, and Outloud. In 2019 she wrote and directed her debut play ‘A Game For Flies’, which played at PYT Fairfield. In 2022 her debut manuscript ‘Finding Liminas: The Sudden Tree’ was shortlisted for the Text Prize 2022. In 2022 she also wrote and created a shadow puppet short film called ‘Murriyang: Seven Sisters Rising’. Her work is characterised by an interest in environmental philosophy, a sense of wonder and playfulness, and her experimental approaches to devised theatre.
ELIZA SCOTT
"Limerence is a piece that has been fermenting in the back of my brain for the past 5 years. It is full of songs I have been working on, re-writing, recording, and have yet to perform live. Through sound and movement, it will dissect feelings of longing, disappearance and loss."
Eliza Scott is an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, sound and film. Their practice investigates the use of movement, technology and sound in live performance - through the use of loop pedals, live-feed and audio-trickery.
Eliza has donned many hats in productions such as The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (STC 2022 – composer & performer), Pollon (KXT 2021, 107 Projects 2021 – writer & performer), Young & Gorgeous (Brand X 2021 – writer & performer), Symphonie Fantastique (KXT 2021 – assistant director) and Petite Suite (BRAND X 2021 – writer & performer).
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JENNIFER HANKIN
Soulful vocals caress gentle ukulele, stitched together with lilting flute create the sonic pallet of multidisciplinary artist The Emerald Ruby. Working out of Awabakal and Wollomi land her arts practice is prolific and multifaceted encompassing performance, composition, fine arts, photography, videography, fashion design and the written word. The Emerald Ruby’s artistic exploits often explore her experiences moving through the world as a late diagnosed Autistic human.
A kaleidoscope of influences nourish every performance of this multi-genre powerhouse - The hazy virtuosity of 18th century french flute music, chaotic abstractions of a moonlit jazz jam, trading traditional jigs and reels at a folk session are interwoven with a decade of recording and journeying with music across the east coast of Australia.
LEILA HARRIS
Leila Harris is an innovative composer, singer-songwriter, soprano, pianist and producer. Transcending and blurring lines between the genre constraints of classical, contemporary and theatre music, Leila combines her eclectic training and influences. She is passionate about pushing boundaries and using outspoken and unconventional art to uplift and empower.
Plain Bad Heroines is a combination of music and poetic monologue primarily inspired by the concept of the monstrous feminine, the legend of Faust and “The Story of Mary MacLane” by Mary MacLane. Leila has used MacLane’s radical views of gender, sexuality and
religion as well as her conviction that she is a genius with an endless hunger for
knowledge, to write a series of poetic monologues and songs that are part of a much
larger body of work but all assert feminine power, heroism, agency and reclamation.
PUTRIKA
Putrika is a Jakarta-born, Eora-based singer, songwriter, and electronic music producer. She defines her music as alt-soul electronica with multi-layered vocals and synths, percussive drums and ambient soundscapes.
She released her first self produced 4-tracks EP ‘Silmara’ in May 2022 and got a rotation on multiple Australian community radio stations. She was also chosen as FBi Radio Independent Artist of The Week in March 2022 by FBi Radio 94.5FM Sydney.
VRDA
VRDA is a self-produced electro indie pop artist from Sydney Australia. Fusing her background as a classical violinist and her love for rich synth and vocal harmonies, she creates a symphony of layered sounds that will both pull at your heartstrings and get your head bobbing. She began touring NSW folk festivals as part of duo at age 14, before moving on to perform as a violinist and vocalist for Lupa J. She also works as a music editor and composer for film, a pallet she draws on in her new lush solo project. VRDA released her first EP, Honey Organza in 2022.
SESSION 2 & 4
SESSION 1 & 3
SESSION 2 & 4
SESSION 1 & 3
SESSION 2 & 3
SESSION 1 & 3
SUPPORTING ARTISTS
MIRANDA MICHALOWSKI
Miranda Michalowski is a multidisciplinary writer and performer living on Gadigal Land, passionate about creating female-driven and queer work. Miranda recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Writing and Theatre Studies. In 2021, she took part in an ATYP class led by Lachlan Philpott, where she began writing her debut play Young Bodies/Somebody’s. She was then selected as one of 20 young writers from across Australia for the ATYP National Studio, where she met her current mentor: playwright Lewis Treston. In early 2022, Miranda wrote and starred in a queer independent short film 'Goodbye Mr Wilde’. Her coming-of-age play 'Young Bodies/Somebody's' debuted at Flight Path Theatre from May 21st-28th, 2022, and is set to be published by Playlab in December. Miranda is currently completing her Honours year at UNSW, focusing on female coming-of-age in contemporary theatre. Her nonfiction writing appears in Ramona Magazine, and her poetry is forthcoming in Moon Cola Zine.
SESSION 1 & 3
E.S MALAIKA
E.S Malaika is the artist project of regionally based singer-songwriter, Sewa Emojong. Sewa’s creative lense is multifaceted, free flowing and at times amorphous!
Influenced by her Kenyan/Australian roots, classical voice training, and eclectic musical appreciation, E.S Malaika honours moments in time and processes the world through lyric and melodic exploration.
SESSION 1 & 3
CHARLOTTE LEAMON
Charlotte Leamon is a composer and sound artist who explores themes larger than oneself such as the environment, discrimination, psychology and physics. Through writing for chamber ensembles and creating electroacoustic works she aims to create new and exciting works that are spatial and gestural.
Invasive Biota is a textural piece for string quartet exploring four textural layers representative of invasive flora and fauna that disrupt a given ecosystem. These four layers are birds, trees, wind and ground animals and each have a different textural and timbral quality that overall creates an eerie soundscape of an ecosystem being destroyed by these elements.
SESSION 1 & 3
MISS MATCH
Miss Match is a culturally diverse and LGBTQIA+ emerging band of four who are looking for more experience performing and working with other female artists. They are inspired by artists such as Dayglow, The Killers, The Beths, Jade Bird, Girl In Red, Mitski, Daughter and Alanis Morrisette. Their music has angsty lyricism reflecting the tribulations of being a teenager living in an age where social media dominates our brainspace.
SESSION 1 & 3
KITTU HOYNE
Kittu Hoyne is a young multimedia artist, composer and performer who explores female stories and elements of the natural world through her digital works. Working with film, soundscapes, animation and layered manipulation of video and photography her works convey a strong sense of physicality and movement, playing with time and space.
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Kittu’s work a Portrait in Frequency was exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW as part of the 2022 Art Express. The work will also feature at Art Express VX and The Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre. Kittu gained distinguished honours and the NSW Premiers Award for the 2021 HSC, along with a third in the state ranking for Visual Arts. She is a member of The House that Dan Built performing and creating immersive music theatre works such as Tender Young Creatures and Salt. Kittu was a featured artist in the film and video installation ‘We Will Slam You With Our Wings,’ directed by Joanna Dudley and Catherine Meyburgh from the William Kentridge Company. She is currently studying at Sydney Uni, in interaction and user experience design and inspired to create large scale immersive works using digital technologies and soundscapes.
SESSION 2 & 3
TALLULAH SIMPSON
Tallulah Simpson is a Sydney-based performer. She has been singing and songwriting since a young age starting with The House’s Toy Choir in 2017, as well as acting in her trinity drama ‘Plays in Production’ exam Concord Floral, in the role of ‘Rosa’ in 2018. Tallulah has also performed in a professional production with Pinchgut Opera in Handel’s Athalia at City Recital Hall in June 2018. Since beginning The House Apprenticeship this year she has honed her skills in performing and teaching, gaining industry experience in The Mother Project, SALT 360, Reverence and performing with The Houses Performance Ensemble since 2020.
Tallulah is interested in writing emotive music and lyrics, with complex melody. Inspired by the young female perspective she is surrounded by in The House.
SESSION 2 & 3
YSABEL DARLING
Ysabel is a self-taught queer artist based in Sydney and has been using graphite, acrylics and oils to create figurative artwork for over a decade. She featured in the 2021 WHISPERS AND ROARS festival from The House that Dan Built and had the privilege of showing her work at The House’s 2022 season launch event.
"Creating an artwork grants me the opportunity to sit with an idea or emotion for an extended
period of time, to tease it out and break it down until I’ve made peace with whatever I needed to or transformed a negative into a positive. For several years, my work has focused on reclaiming one’s sense of self following trauma, communication women’s innate strength and celebrating women’s sexuality."
TAHLIA MERLINO AND
KATRINA MASKELL
"Our performance; an extract of our work in progress play '21 Anderson Avenue' depicts two unlikely housemates as they navigate finding their feet at two very different stages of life. It's a story of how polar opposites can attract, repel and ultimately change each other for the better. It's a comedic exploration of what it means to be not only an adult but a 'woman' in this current society and the societal expectations we feel placed under that spans throughout the ages."
Tahlia Merlino is an emerging actor, writer and theatre maker currently based in Sydney Australia. A NIDA trained actor herself and graduate of 16th Street’s Full Time Program 2020, she now works with both ATYP and NIDA as a drama tutor and is currently assisting in directing ATYP’s production of ‘Shack’.
Katrina Maskell is a professional Actor, Dancer, singer and musician. She completed her full-time performing art degree at ED5international and NIDA. Katrina is a performer at Luna park Sydney and is also a children's entertainer. This is her first debut in writing and creating her own project collaborating with her creative partner Tahlia.
ISLA MOWBRAY
"The complexities of female friendships are so often underrepresented in the stories we tell. There’s an abundance of stories which focus on romantic relationships and the heartbreak and joy that comes with them. But what about those intimate friendships, the ones where time slips away, where you laugh together until both your bellies are aching. Our friendships can be some of the most important relationships we ever have. Yet the intricacies and volatility of them seem to be swept aside in the stories we see told."
Isla is an emerging Sydney-based artist living on Cadigal land with a passion for telling meaningful stories that reflect the joys and hardships of adolescence. She has been deeply committed to storytelling through the practice of theatre and have been waiting till I’ve felt a pull to direct and tell a story I care passionately about. In 2021 I was the Vice-president of the Sydney University Drama Society where I helped to establish the inaugural SUDS Film Festival as well as overseeing the smooth functioning of the society.
HOLLY RIVA
Holly Riva is an Australian singer/songwriter blessed with perfect pitch, a four-octave
range, and melodic and lyrical sensibility that belies her age.
Storytelling is a way to bring connection and meaning, to tell a tale through song we can
escape, heal and celebrate. Holly Riva’s ‘A Memory’ will take you on a journey of
observing the joy and suffering of love and all forms of love. The courage to be venerable
and hold strength by speaking up.
The 19 year old pop singer songwriters seeks to bring a bit of magic to the stage, a very
honest perspective of her observations and experiences.
SESSION 2 & 3
SESSION 1 & 3
SESSION 2 & 4
SESSION 3
TOY CHOIR
Bursting with happiness the Toy Choir brings the sweet perfection of young voices with the joyous sounds of sugar pop harmonies and infectious ukulele strumming. Overflowing with lyrics and images inspired by the Australian landscape, the Toy Choir is uniquely hearing the ideas and impressions of girls and young women in Australia today.
​Founded and directed by Danielle O’Keefe, Toy Choir is an independent youth ensemble dedicated to excellence in choral ensemble work and the development of young artists in singing, songwriting and performance.
SESSION 1
