Speak Percussion

Speak Percussion
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Years active<2000 (2000)–present
Members
  • Eugene Ughetti
Past members
  • Minako Okamoto
  • Justin Marshall
  • Rory McDougall
  • Harry Arvanitis

Speak Percussion are an Australian percussion ensemble led by artistic director Eugene Ughetti.[1]

The original five members, including Ughetti, came together in 1999, to join a recital by Minako Okamoto while they were undergraduate students at Victorian College of the Arts. The following year, they formed Speak Percussion and made their debut at Musica Viva's Ménage music nights at Chapel off Chapel.[2] Later that year the line-up of Okamoto, Ughetti, Justin Marshall and Rory McDougall performed Fritz Hauser's Double Exposition.[3]

In 2002, the group split up due to financial and creative strain, with Ughetti the only one wishing to continue. Since then they have operated as a collective, with an ever-changing lineup.[2]

Since forming, they have collaborated with Oren Ambarchi, Anthony Pateras, Jon Rose, Ethel, and glass artist Elaine Miles.[4][5][6]

In 2018, Norwegian record label Sofa released Before Nightfall One, an album with Speak Percussion and Ingar Zach. This was followed by Percussion Works, an album with Thomas Meadowcroft released on Mode Records in 2020.

They have been nominated at the APRA's Art Music Awards each year from 2011 to 2017 and 2019–2021, and have won five awards between 2015 and 2021.

In 2021 Kaylie Melville became Speak Percussion's assistant Artistic Director https://speakpercussion.com/new-assistant-artistic-director-kaylie-melville/

  1. ^ Byrnes, Tim. "Fluorophone Are Playing To The Beat". scenestr - Pop Culture & Entertainment. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b "10 years of 'speaking percussion' : Feature Article : Australian Music Centre". www.australianmusiccentre.com.au. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. ^ Crotty, Joel (15 December 2000). "Program Neglects the Concert Art of Compromise". The Age. Archived from the original on 25 February 2002. Retrieved 11 August 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Ghan stories". Radio National. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  5. ^ Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da (31 March 2013). "Echoes of Languages No Longer Heard". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  6. ^ "RealTime Arts – Magazine – Special Feature – Speak Percussion". www.realtimearts.net. Retrieved 18 February 2022.