Music
Press
With all the councillors banging on about their respective campaigns, the Whisper was relieved to hear another sort of banging coming from Waverley Deputy Mayor Dominic Wy Kanak. It appears our multi-talented Greens councillor has provided percussion for Bondi classical guitarist Mary-Jane Leahy on her album, saMmJAna, to be released next month. Looks like Dominic will have his hands full, no matter what comes of Saturday's election. - Wentworth Courier
Discography
CD titled "saMmJAna" (Sanskrit for harmony and equity).
The album has been played on 2SER and ABC FM as well as tracks I have written in conjunction with poet Robert Balas.
Photos
Bio
Maryjane has been playing classical guitar for more than 30 years and has been a composer for 15 of those years. Her current focus in composition is music for contemporary guitar. She is also pursuing her life journey through music in a Masters degree in Composition, looking at incorporatng Indian rhythms into Western orchestral music. All of Mary-Jane's guitar pieces are a reflection of her personal experience and each has been written for someone who, at the time, had a great impact on both the direction and meaning of her life journey. Her recent collaboration with Dominic Wy Kanak has taught her a great deal about the relationships between white and Indigenous Australians. Just like her research into Indian rhythms, working with Dominic has presented Mary-Jane with a new and inspiring opportunity to see how different cultures can bring their different musics together, to create beautiful works. It is this theme of harmony in diversity that is an expression of both Maryjane's personal philosophy of life and the driving energy for the recent exhibition - Samjjana.
I also perform at alot of background music for private functions such as art openings and weddings, as well as performance with poets, writing music to their words.
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