Listen to music: "CHANCE" / "LIFE GOES ON" / "THE TURNING"

About musician & visual artist Colin Offord

Colin Offord is a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, inventor of original instruments, designer of musical theatre pieces and visual artist. Of Anglo-Celtic heritage, his extensive travels and many collaborations have led him to a synthesis of the artistic and philosophical influences of western avant-garde and folk music, experimental Jazz, East Asian, Aboriginal Australian and Pacific island art forms

A fusion of music, performance and visual arts his work is a response to the three stages of Australian history: indigenous, colonial and multicultural. Offord’s art is passionate, expansive and genuinely original yet very accessible to a wide audience. An international art form with a distinctly Australasian character.

His activities include solo concerts, ensemble performances, environmental works, cross cultural collaborations, the developing and building of original instruments, scores for theatre, new media, circus, film and dance, special events, concerts and workshops, community projects and exhibitions of visual art.

Colin Offord sings in a rich voice of exceptional range. He has developed a unique singing style that combines song forms and vocal improvisation, calls and yodels, throat harmonics, falsetto and the exploration of vocal sound. He accompanies his voice with the most noted of his many original instruments: the “ Great Island Mouthbow “. Over twenty years in development, it is a complex string instrument which can be bowed, plucked and played percussively. Colin then modifies the sounds harmonically with his throat to produce sweeping, rhythmic soundscapes. The result is a vast array of sonic possibilities from a single instrument.

He also plays a range of original and traditional instruments: Australasian flute, harmonic windpipes, eagle feather flute, double flutes made especially for him by Australian maker Mark Binns, conch shells, Chinese wind instruments: Ti-tze, Bao hu & Hulu se, many types of jaws harps and the Laotian Khene. Original instruments that members of his group specialise on include: the Xylopt: a bailer shell xylophone, Moonbells: multiphonic harmonic plate chimes, Tongue bells, Australasian Belly Bows, a range of bamboo and metal percussion instruments and sound costumes activated by movement.

Performances

Colin Offord has performed at arts and music festivals, concert halls, theatres, galleries and schools throughout Australia and the world. He has staged environmental events in volcanic craters, caves, beaches, gardens, and architectural settings and in the digital realm. He has given performances of his music in Belgium, Holland, France, Spain, Reunion Island, South Africa, Switzerland, Italy, Romania, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Ireland, England, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, the U.S.A. and throughout Australia and the island nations of the Pacific Ocean.

In recent years he has performed at the Festival of National Living Treasures South Africa, Torhout World Festival Belgium, Tilburg International Folk Festival Netherlands, Crown Theatre Festival, Chiang Kai Shek Square and Taipei International Arts Festival Taiwan, Festival d’Automne at the Centre Pompidou Paris, Arles Festival, Festival Musique du Monde Aubervilliers Paris, Festival de Sept Collines St Etienne France, Le Maillon Theatre de Strasbourg, One Yellow Rabbit Theatre Festival Calgary Canada, Adelaide Festival, Sibiu International Festival Romania, Bergen International Festival Norway, RomaEuropa Festival Italy and Out of the Box Festival New York U.S.A.

Colin has represented Australia at Commonwealth Arts Festivals in Auckland and Edinburgh and at World Expo’s in Australia and Spain, for the Sydney 2000 Olympic bid in Monaco and in World Drum Festivals in Canada and Australia. He has been a cultural exchange artist for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairsand Trade touring throughout New Caledonia, Tonga, Papua Nuigini, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Spain, Scotland, New Zealand, Vietnam and Laos.

Collaborations

Throughout his artistic life Colin has formed many duos and collaborated with a wide range of musicians and dancers. Some have been brief, powerful encounters at festivals, on tours, through projects and residencies whilst others have been sustained over many years.

Some of these are collaborations are: “Blackman|Whiteman” with Tharawal Aboriginal Matthew Doyle, Taiwanese Aboriginal singer Kimbo Hu Te Fu, Malian Kora master Jalimoussa Ballake Sissoko, Portughese Fado singer Lula Pena, “Full Moon” Flemish violinist Bert van Lathem’s improvisation ensemble, Chinese Flautist Gou Yue, Laotian multi-instrumentalist Khamsuan Vongthongkham, the National Theatre of Papua Nuigini, Manus Island drummers and dancers, the “Kelaniya Free Lancers” Sri Lankan drummers & dancers, Spanish singer Antonio Placer, Greek Soprano Savinna Yannatou, French bass Clarinet virtuoso Saxi Georges Laurent, Prima La Musica Chamber Orchestra Belgium, “Platypus“ Paul Jarman’s indigenous fusion group and Australis with Australian multi instrumentalist Ron Reeves. Key Australian musicians that Colin presently works with are Calvin Welch, Peter Kennard, Paul Jarman, Chris Finnen, Ron Reeves, Paul Dengate and Daniele di Giovanni.

Original Scores

William Yang’s monologues “ Shadows” and “ The North”, Taiwanese new media artist Yeh Yilan’s Video installation “Dancing Brush”, “Dedale” circus spectacle by Laurent Gachet for Academie Fratellini Paris, Ahmed Madani’s “ L’improbable Verite du Monde” for Centre Dramatique de L’Ocean Indien in Reunion Island, France and Switzerland. Phillip George’s “Mnemonic Notations”, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman’s Mirramu Dance Company, “Banshee” and “Nuti” for Meryl Tankard Dance Theatre, Louis Nowra’s “Capricornia”, Sally Chance’s Restless Dance Company, and Karen Manwarring’s “Danseurs de la Pluie” for the Pacific Arts Festival New Caledonia.

Music for short features and documentary films include Canadian Edie Steiner’s award winning “Felicities’ view”, David Fanshawe’s score for Michael Winner’s film “ Dirty Weekend” and his own film/concert project “ Tyranny of Distance “ for Le Maillon Theatre du Strasbourg, France which is based on Norman Dawn’s 1927 silent film masterpiece “ For the term of his natural life “.

Exhibitions

Koahsiung Container Arts Festival, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts Taiwan.Taipei Artist Village Gallery, Coventry Gallery, Woollahra Gallery, Mori Gallery, Sydney Institute of Contemporary Art, Wollongong City Gallery, Macquarie Gallery, Watters Gallery, Adelaide Festival Centre, the Sculpture Centre, Lillianfels and Hogarth Gallery. Group shows include : The Contemporary Art Society, The Institute of Contemporary Art, the People’s Commission Paddington Town Hall, The Sculpture Centre, Young Contemporaries at N.S.W. Regional Galleries, Wollongong City Gallery, Mori Gallery and the NSW University College of Fine Arts Silver Jubilee.

Corporate & special events

• 21st Pacific Science Congress, Opening Ceremony, Sydney Opera House
• 5th Annual Asia-Pacific Film Festival Awards, State Theatre, Sydney
• 10th Anniversary State Dinner. NSW -Tokyo Sister State Relationship, Sydney Hilton
• Australian Capitol Territory Tourism Awards, Canberra Convention Centre
• Sydney Botanic Gardens, Spring Carnival program and media launch
• Asian Pacific Law Reform Association Convention, Regent Hotel Sydney
• Metalworkers International Conference Opening Ceremony. Darling Harbour Sydney Exhibition Centre,
• Mastercard International Annual Directors Conference dinner. Lady Macquarie’s Chair, Sydney Harbour.
• Promotional events for the Australian Tourist Commission: Sydney Opera House, Fort Denison on Sydney Harbour, Canberra Casino, Chinese Gardens and the Regent Hotel
• Australia Day Ceremony & Artes Pavilion Opening, Expo 92 Seville Spain
• Asia-Pacific Real Estate Conference Opening Ceremony Sydney Convention Centre
• “Sea Change”, Olympic Arts Festival program and media launch,
  Sydney Maritime Museum
• Sydney 2000 Olympic Bid, Monte Carlo, Monaco
• Peoplesoft Asia-Pacific product launch, Conrad Jupiters Casino, Gold Coast
• National Wheelchair Games Opening Ceremony, State Sports Centre, Sydney
• International Metalworkers Federation Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
• 8th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems Opening Ceremony,
  Sydney Convention Centre
• Annual Conference of Australian Civil Engineers, Darling Harbour Convention Centre
• Ernst & Young International Accountants Conference, Sydney Opera House
• Royal Gala Performance in the presence of Prince Charles & Lady Diane, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Scotland
• Rivercare 2000 Awards Ceremony, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Sydney
• International Soil, Erosion& Water Management, Annual Conference, Sydney Hilton