As an emerging producer and music arranger, Samantha has enhanced the resonance at private and public gatherings throughout Australia, London and Europe, from Portugal to Russia. She has also contributed to several soundtracks for film and theatre. Sam entertains authentic collaborations which build immersive and creative cultural environments, those which discern and express the stories and heritage of cultural groups and which leave permanent legacies. To enhance this she has forged long-term partnerships with award winning AV companies such as 'Illuminart Productions' (eg Luminous Night, Winthrop Hall, WA)
Samantha coaches vocal and piano students, some who have subsequently been accepted into NIDA and Conservatoriums nationally. She currently sings with 'Summa Musica' a capella choir. She supports local community groups such as the 'Joy of the Women' choir and a Parkinson's Support Group. Working with communities on enrichment programmes complements Sam's educational counselling qualification, increasing the emotional health and general wellbeing in the community through positive communication, breathwork and applied creativity. She continues to record lots of a capella vocals because people keep asking for them.
Samantha began her artistic journey in the desert, in the bush and on the farm with siblings and plays, playing several roles including the interval 'commercial'! As well as attending WAAPA and Sydney Conservatorium, Sam developed as an ensemble singer and soloist, through performance with operatic-jazz trio, The Custard Divas, SA Opera, WA Opera, Collegium, the Really Useful Group and a variety of private, corporate and public engagements. Her reportoire ranges from the realms of opera, music theatre, jazz, funk, powerhouse ballads, world-folk and even motown. A synchronistic invitation to sing 'techno-opera' on a European Love Parade tour ultimately led to connections that juxtaposed band and classical orchestration with world/electronic chants and rhythms. As vocalist with 'Orchid Star', Sam has performed at a number of major venues and festivals in Europe and the UK, including Glastonbury, Glade, Hadra and Boom. Through such diverse collaborations, Sam has acquired a broad range of relevant skills, including session performance, audio production, programming, lyrical and orchestral composition/arrangement, linguistics, translation, storytelling, contract law, project management, backstage/technical experience and touring accounts.
~ MENTORS/COLLABORATORS ~
- Trilby Temperley (Cloud Kollektiv), Glenn Rogers, Audiocell (AKG), Martin Russell (Afro-Celt/RealWorld), Pete Ardron (AfroCelt/Orchid Star), Cindi Drennan (Illuminart), Carmelo Musca (CM Films), Sean Williams (PhD Sound Architecture, Edinburgh University), Pavel Batal (formerly Marketing & Business Mgr, National Theatre, Prague), Ian Lilburne (current duo Lilburne|Ray)
Awards WA 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
Workshops Station House Opera – Physical Theatre production at Battersea Arts Centre 2008
Sound Healing Training with Solara An-Ra, London 2008
Language Speech: Basic Italian, German, French and Portuguese. Sung: Any.
"Sam has the to ability to work intuitively with a versatility and productivity that is refreshing" ~ Pete Hammond
"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
"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
