Jo Truman


1977-81: Diploma of Fine Arts, Alexander Mackey College of Fine Art,Sydney. Major in painting and drawing.
1989 Guest Student Koninklijk Conservatorium, Den Haag,Holland Composition and Performance
1991 Guest Student, Sweelinck Conservatorium, Amsterdam, Holland. Jazz Studies and composition.
1995-98: Bachelor of Communications University of Technology, Sydney (Major in sound and Writing).

Grants and Awards:
1983: Special Purpose Award, Australian Music Board, Australia Council of the Arts to spend one year in Northern Territory of Australia researching indigenous music.
1985: International Study Grant, Australian Music Board, Australia Council.
1985-87: Study singing with David Mason, London,England and research the use of extended vocal techniques in improvisation and New Music.Work with Evan Parker, Maggie Nicols and Phil Minton and the London Musician's Collective.

Condensed CV of projects as a singer:
Singer in John Cage's "Song Books" Opera, Schoenbergzaal, Den Haag.(workshopped w. Cage during this period)

Solo and group shows:
"Ways & Meanings" quintet, The Bimhuis (w.Ernst Reijsiger, Phil Minton, Hein Pijneberg, Veryan Weston,Maariette Roupe v. d. Woort) Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Holland.
Trio w. Wolter Weirbos, Maartje Ten Hoorne;
Duo w. Luc Houtkamp, Bimhuis. Tour of Belgium, Holland and France w. Johannes Bauer, Fred van Hove;
Gunda Gottschalk & Peter Kowald- "Global Village"-Taklos fest. Zurich & Berne, Switzerland
"Bull's Eye Ensemble" - The Staadtgarten, Koln, Germany
1st International Jazz Fest.Vilnius Lithuania (w. Vladimir Tchekassin & Vladmir Tarasov).
Phil Minton's choir "Voices From Somewhere" -Le Manns Jazz Fest. and Strasbourg Musica Fest.France.
"Eigenwijds Weekend" (trio, Daenen,Janssen,Truman) Haarlem Concertgebouw, Holland.
VPRO Television "Reijseger and Musik",
"De Zang van Een Voortgaande Beweging" composed by Harry de Wit,
"Puple Days" New Music and Improv. festival- The Zeebelt Theatre, den Hague, Holland Tour organised by "het Appolohuis" Eindhoven, Holland
"Antipodear" Duo w. Anna Lindblom - The Klang Raum, Stuttgart, Germany.
South Pacific Fest., (duo w. hein Pijnenberg) Groningen, Holland.

1993- Artist in Residency, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart,Germany.

Major work "A Bite In Time"

Commissions of composed works include:
"Mother Piece" - Still Moves Dance Co. 1984
"Didjeridu and Cello" - Hopkins\Truman -Tasmanian Dance Co. 1984
Solo CD "Sdreams" -Staalplaat Records, Amsterdam,1992.
"Sdreamings" Horspiel, WDR Koln, Germany,1991.
"Cell Songs" - The Listening Room, ABC, Sydney -1992 (since been translated into bi-lingual production for SWF, Baden Baden.
"The House In The Sky" - Poetry,prose,composition -The Listening Room, ABC, Sydney- 1997
"The Transparent Messenger" - The Europeans, Radio National, ABC, Melbourne, 1999.
"The Mirrored Cry" - The Listening Room, Classic FM, ABC, Sydney.
"Deprem" - Radio Eye, Radio National, ABC, Sydney.

REVIEWS:
"Think about the spread of singIng from,say, Robert Johnson to chinese opera. Jo Truman covers such a breadth of approaches, and then some. She can also sound like smashing crystal, a fountain playing or a flock of birds. The music of birds is an inevitable inspiration for improvisors and composers, and Truman,s ability to mimic is especially breathtaking and exhilerating. Her virtuosity is just a means to an end, which as spenthralling that her exceptional tonal control and articulation, not to mention her range,could almost escape notice...." John Shand, Jazz CD reviewer, "The Sydney Morning Herald".

"JOSEPHINE TRUMAN - BRILLIANT IN THE STAADTGARTEN." Hardly posssible to categorise, but at the same time is intergrated wihtin a system-controlled freedom, so to speak, which opens space for individual activities but never oversteps the boundaries.- "Koln City News:-

"Exceptional Australian vocalist"- Kees Polling- "The Trouw", Holland.

"She's very interestung" - John Cage

"She seesm to be exploring every option with a wide variety of techniques - some that dazzle with power and beauty, others that grate and make the senses shudder. In all, what she does is quite exceptional". Alan Freeman-AUDIO- UK

"Truman has talent and vision to explore the most natural of a 2instruments-the human voice" - ARC- USA




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