Ivona Rose Music
"You hear the assortment of musical influences remotely as if they are in the next room. In the foreground is a voice as both a singer and songwriter that sounds like no one else." John Shand Sydney Morning Herald
"The title track, for instance, grabs you by the throat on the first listening and sinks into your marrow the more you hear it." John Shand Sydney Morning Herald
"There's folk for sure, but there’s also the earthier end of the singer/songwriter boom, a strong tremor of art pop leanings and maybe even some country" Bernard Zuel Music Critic
Ivona Rose is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Wielding her signature Autoharp, piano and ukulele in accompaniment to her songs, hand-carved like insignia on pavement. She plays solo or as a duo with acclaimed guitarist and composer Aaron 'Baz' Flower, a songwriting partner and long-time accompanist.
Throughout 2024, Ivona has been a featured artist of the Central Coast's Gossy Weekender x Live and Local Festival and began performing for Troubadour Folk Club as well as the Oh Bee Three's Jazz & Blues nights. In 2025, she was invited to play a floor spot before Katie Spencer (UK) for the Folk Federation of NSW and was selected as the Folk/Pop artist for Coast FM's Sounds of the Coast Festival. The event was broadcast live to the station's 70,000 listeners and led to live-to-air performances, interviews and airplay by the station, on popular programmes such as Your Home with Sarah King and Great Southern Land with Michael O'Brien. She was also picked up as the Local News Broadcaster.
Recently, Ivona embarked on a songwriting mentorship with American folk artist Molly Sarlè of Mountain Man, delving into Appalachian and traditional American folk. This provided an opportunity to work one-on-one, crafting new songs using innovative techniques and to buckle down to the essence of what songwriting means to her as an artist. She has written a meticulous collection of new works, which she has begun recording and picked up the Banjo as a new instrument in her repertoire.
2018 saw Ivona Rose release her debut album "So Modern". Produced with Brian Campeau at "The Plex" recording studio, with additional production and mix by Darren Reston (RPG Radio Studios) it is a collection of 10 carefully selected and crafted songs. Featuring Zoe Hauptmann on Bass (Missy Higgins, Paul Kelly), Evan Mannell on Drums (Jimmy Barnes, Sarah Belkner), Emily Palethorpe on Cello (Sarah Blasko, Kylie Minogue), Casey Nicholson on Trumpet (Ngarukuruwala, The NEO) and Brian Campeau on Guitars and Synth (Self Titled Artist, The Green Mohair Suits). The album was critically acclaimed and earned a place as Sydney Morning Herald's Album of The Week Nov 2018. ABC Radio, 2SER, Radio National and Independent stations around Australia picked up the record and gave it airplay nationally.
Raw, evocative, honest and uncompromisingly unique. Dreamy, eccentric melody marries poetic songwriting and something brave is born.
Central Coast-based Ivona Rose (nee Budys) migrated to Australia as a political refugee from Krakow, Poland. Her passion for music arts was born at a primary school age, where she began singing in school shows, local Carols by Candle Light productions, playing the flute and the clarinet and even publishing poetry at the age of 13.
In 2006, she independently produced and released “SheHeIYouMeWe”, her debut EP. It enjoyed strong CD sales and airplay on Sydney-based FBi Radio, 2SER, Bondi FM and local Melbourne radio stations.
Wanting to further her professional education, she studied Creative and Professional Writing & Editing at the CAE in Melbourne. She then returned to Sydney to study Advanced Music Theory and Piano Studies at the Australian Institute of Music and private tuition with Nicholas Fowler, who developed the Pop Piano syllabus for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She took on vocal tutelage from International Jazz singer Lilly Dior, who helped her harness her unique vocal quality. Her love of string instruments and the desire to add a country folk element to her musical palette brought her to the Autoharp. Mainly self-taught, however, having taken instruction from Mother Mabelle Carter's Autoharp style, she wields a hypnotic dynamism to her music by switching between instruments as accompaniment.
Whilst honing her craft as a singer-songwriter, she has performed in Sydney, Melbourne & Regional NSW as part of Peats Ridge Music Festival, Tamworth Country Music Festival, Wharf 2 Loud at the Sydney Theatre Company and various venues with a call for live acoustic music.
In 2012, she won the Songs on Stage Songwriters and Performers award, the prize money of which helped her get back into the studio and record the single "Hoopla". In 2013, she was a finalist in the Music Oz Awards Singer Songwriter category for the song and top 100 People's Choice across all genres in the country.
