Samantha repertoire spans opera, classical song, musical theatre, jazz, soul, funk, world music, folk, Motown and contemporary ballads. Her musical journey began at a piano on a family farm in regional Australia. Alongside studies at WAAPA and the Sydney Conservatorium, she sang with Australian operatic-jazz trio The Custard Divas, SA Opera, WA Opera, Collegium, I Voci and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, as well as at numerous private, corporate and public engagements.
As vocalist with psychedelic world-fusion band Orchid Star, Samantha Ray has performed at venues and festivals across Europe and the UK, including Glastonbury, Glade, Hadra and Boom. She has given private concerts aboard the residential ship The World, and most recently collaborated with composer Pete Ardron on original music and vocals for the cinematic fireworks display at Adelaide’s Aus Lights on the River.
Sam coaches voice and piano for all ages and provides enrichment sessions for families and care providers. Her work with seniors includes participatory singing, musical connection, and vocal and breath support for people living with Parkinson’s Disease. She has an educational counselling qualification (Adv,Dip.), working with the emotional health and general wellbeing in the community through relational communication, breathwork, resonance and applied creativity.
At illuminart Stories in Light, Sam is employed across sound, community-centred storytelling, projects and permanent installatoin management. Work includes research, soundscape composition, curation, production, narration, community engagement and cultural sensitivity, for projects such as Luminous Hall (UWA Centenary, WA), Our Story, Our Voices (Merredin, WA), Boodja Dwordak Wirn (Esperance, WA) and Padla Ngalungga Kinipapa Audio Tour (Cooper Creek, SA).
Sam volunteers, supporting local community groups and organisations with relevant services. Broad Skills include AV operation, session vocalis, audio production, programming, lyrical and orchestral composition/arrangement, linguistics, translation, storytelling, contract law, project management, backstage/technical experience and touring accounts.
Collaborators and mentors include:
Ian Lilburne (Lilburne|Ray), Pete Ardon (operatic fusion), Anthony Maydwell (Summa Musica choral ensemble), pianist, composer and writer Andrew Partington, electronic music researcher and performer Dr Sean Williams, Trilby Temperley,
Glenn Rogers and Martin Russell (Afro Celt Sound System)
Awards
AWA Music Industry (WAMI) ‘Café’ Song of the Year ‘Revien’ 2008
ArtsWA Production Grant 2010, ArtsWA Touring Grant 2005,
Private Seed Funding HPPL 2000-2002
Goldfields Regional Musician of the Year 1991
Languages
Speech: Basic Italian, German, French and Portuguese.
Singing : Most. Try me.
"Sam has the to ability to work intuitively with a versatility and productivity that is refreshing" ~ Pete Hammond
"Her voice is ethereal and truly powerful. Her creativity in delivering her performances is always impressive." ~ Carmelo Musca
"My musical tastes generally hover around country and western with a bit of rock thrown in so I was genuinely surprised and delighted by how much I enjoyed your mixture of opera, soul and jazz. You have a special talent!" ~ Colin Barnett
"Samantha is a great musician to work with, she has a great understanding about the concepts of resonance, expression, mood and improvisation." ~ Balvinder Singh
"Totally professional and very exciting, an extremely talented singer - a huge success with our customers. She kept the audience spellbound" ~ Grace Brothers
"Sam is a breath of fresh air. The diversity and flexibility of her talents enables companies like mine to provide a wide range of options to our clients to suit any event or theme." ~ Graeme Hall, Boo Creative
