The Boîte's 45th Birthday Party!

We are celebrating our 45th Birthday this June, exactly 45 years to the day after our first concert. This special celebration will feature performers spanning the entire of The Boite’s history, presenting music and traditions from around the world.

Since 1979 The Boite has actively supported artists from diverse communities and promoted cultural understanding through the presentation of live music. Through the work of The Boite, new elements and styles have come into the musical language of artists and music lovers in Melbourne, Victoria and Australia.Their work has enriched and broadened Melbourne’s live music scene with truly representative programming, and continues to challenge assumptions around the boundaries of genre, culture and tradition.

This concert will take you on a musical journey through the many chapters of The Boite’s past 45 years, and offer glimpses of where they will take you next.

Program:

Opa Bato!

Makepisi

Kavisha Mazzella

Misagh Zamani

Rosa Voto

Ria Soemardjo

Vinod Prasanna

Stella Savy and Deb Lowah Clark

Pal Mar

Melbourne Georgian Choir

Gorani

Sonidos del Alma Spanish Language Choir

Tickets

Opa Bato!

Opa Bato! is the only ‘Trubacki Orkestar’ in Australia, performing authentic contemporary Balkan brass music from the rich traditions of Serbia, Macedonia and beyond. 

The distinctive music of the Balkans is the result of European and Eastern musical traditions meeting and cross-pollinating over many centuries. Southern Serbia is home to the ‘Trubacki Orkestar,’ also heard in the wider Balkan region and now the rest of Europe and beyond. While there are slow and evocative ballads, the music is often fast, frenetic and compellingly danceable, with energetic rhythms, soaring melodies and wild Turkish-influenced improvisations.

http://www.opabalkanbrass.com/

Makepisi

MAKEPISI is an exciting acappella line up, singing contemporary and traditional South African songs. In the style of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, this group contains powerful voices hailing from different South African choirs and shows, including The Lion King. The rich, invigorating sound that is MAKEPISI is made up of  Melbourne based male South African voices. You are guaranteed to be uplifted!

https://www.facebook.com/MakepisiMusic/

Stella Savy & Deb Lowah Clark

Stella Savy’s singular blend of funk, soul, reggae and ska is unlike any other performer in Australia.  Her original music is influenced by her Seychelle Island heritage- the sounds of the islands fused with reggae and ska guitar rhythms. Her expressive and soulful vocal style captivates audiences all over Australia.

Stella has been Choir Director for the Boite Schools Chorus for several years, and this year will also be Artistic Director for the project.

https://stellasavy.com/

Deb Lowah Clark is a proud Meriam woman of the Torres Strait Islands. Born on Wadawurrung land, Deborah expresses the social justice issues of the Australian landscape  through her music. Deb’s music and sounds envelop the audience in smooth tones that embrace an indie rock, soul, gospel and Indigenous RnB style, giving audiences a unique view of life from Deb’s perspective, living down south away from the Torres Straits.

Deb was Artistic Director of the Boite Schools Chorus’ Maiem - Songs of the Torres Strait in 2023.

https://www.facebook.com/deborahNmusic/

Kavisha Mazzella

ARIA award winner, songbird and folkloric explorer Kavisha's original songs’ lyrical ingredients include humour, poetry, social justice and the spiritual. Combine this prowess with the voice of an angel and you have the experience of a Kavisha concert. Singing in English, Italian and other languages, Kavisha takes you on an uplifting boundary riding journey of well-crafted  stories and songs that will strike a resounding chord within.

Kavisha has been an integral performer for many years of The Boite’s history. Kavisha will MC and perform at The Boite’s 45th Birthday Party.

https://www.kavisha.com/

Misagh Zamani, Rosa Voto, Ria Soemardjo and Vinod Prasanna

These four virtuosic performers collaborated on a new Boite project The Music Between in 2023, exploring the common themes and spaces between their respective Iranian, Italian, Indonesian and Indian cultural heritages. They will reprise this special concert experience at Melbourne Recital Centre this May. For The Boite’s 45th birthday, they will come together once again to perform a different suite of music just for this special occasion.

Misagh participated in The Boite’s Portfolio emerging artists program in 2022. Originally from Iran, Misagh is a composer and virtuoso multi instrumentalist, playing 16 instruments from around the world, including the clarinet, Persian bagpipes, and setar.

https://www.boite.com.au/artist/misagh-zamani

Rosa Voto is an Italian born vocalist , dancer and percussionist. Rosa is the founder and director of the Melbourne School of Tarantella and leads Southern Italian traditional music ensemble Sanacori. Both outfits collaborated in 2023 to present Rapture, an exploration of Tarantella and Pizzica in 2023, proudly presented by The Boite.

https://www.melbourneschooloftarantella.com/about-us

Ria Soemardjo is a Melbourne based musician with a passion for collaborating with artists across diverse range of genres and artforms. Her  distinct, haunting vocal style reflects her Australian/Indonesian cultural heritage and she draws on her fascination for Indonesian musical traditions in her song writing and collaborative projects. Ria collaborated in the development of three new intercultural works presented by The Boite in 2023; Blue on Blue by Anne Norman, The Music Between led by Misagh Zamani and What if Music with Gamelan DanAnda and Firetail.

https://www.riavoice.com/

Born into one of India’s greatest flute-playing families, award-winning bansuri (flute) virtuoso Vinod Prasanna shines as an outstanding performer of authentic traditional and contemporary Indian music. Vinod’s emotive melodies, exquisite improvisations and divine flute songs distinguish his performance of Indian classical, world and meditation music.

Vinod has been a regular performer with The Boite for many years. In 2023 The Boite were proud to present two works featuring Vinod; the immersive collaboration One Note with Leo Dale, and The Music Between led by Misagh Zamani.

https://www.bansuri.com.au/

Pal Mar

Pal Mar is a Latin Pop band from Colombia who participated in The Boite’s Portfolio emerging artists program in 2022, and have since gone on to perform in festivals and at Melbourne Recital Centre. Isabella's astonishing vocal precision and tone mixed with Juan's effortless guitar playing takes you on a musical adventure to the tropics informed by Latin American rhythms. Recently taking time out to get married in Bali, Pal Mar are now working on their new album, due for release later in 2024.

https://www.palmarmusic.com/

Community Choirs

Gorani 

Gorani is a men's vocal ensemble who sing traditional songs from Georgia, to the East of the Black Sea, and Bulgaria, to the West of the Black Sea.

Gorani has visited both countries many times and has learned songs from legendary singing masters.

The group started in 1992 following a workshop on Bulgarian men's village songs presented by the Boite and led by Bagryana Popov.

They have appeared on national radio and TV in Georgia, Bulgaria and Australia.

Melbourne Georgian Choir

The Melbourne Georgian Choir is an Australian mixed voice choir established in 2010,  directed by Krzysztof Derwinski. 

Sonidos del Alma Spanish Language Choir  

Sonidos del Alma specialises in songs from Latin America such as the Mexican bolero Besame mucho, the Colombian cumbia El pescador and the Chilean classic Todo cambia. The choir is led by Colombian singer-songwriter Iaki Vallejo.