Streets of Your Town

In this week’s Streets of Your Town podcast I speak to an Australian treasure.

The thrill of performing has never left Marcia Hines, not since she started singing in her church choir as a child in Boston more than 60 years ago.

She first moved to Australia from Boston to Sydney at just 16 years old, to star in the Australian production of Hair. Since then, she’s become one of Australia’s most beloved musical treasures, with a career spanning more than five decades, 22 albums, and countless chart topping singles and multi-platinum records globally.

In fact her need to connect with live audiences, has only grown stronger after the limitations of the pandemic.

"To be honest, Nance, it's just good for the business to be getting back on its feet, my business, my industry,” she says.

“It feels like we're coming home. And after what we've all gone through in the last few years, I'll have to say now, we need some joy, and that's what performers really like bringing to the table, joy.”

Marcia is an inspiration to women and Australians everywhere, constantly reinventing herself and setting industry benchmarks.

And as she tells us on Streets of Your Town, her urge to perform on stage is rebuilding anew as she starts the national tour of her latest show Velvet Rewired, which kicks off its run at a the Wynnum Fringe this week.

Vidya's song I need you to see me can be seen on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99WPIneNxG0

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Sometimes you meet someone whose dedication to their craft is so meticulous and thorough, you just have to find out what drives their passion.

So it was with international award winning photographer Erick Regnard. He and his twin brother Ian have travelled the world doing high-end art and advertising photography. 

They heard about the wonders of underwater photography in Niue, a tiny island off Tonga, with water so clear it was like being suspended in space.

And so they designed their underwater polaroid camera and housing, and after many months of planning took off on their adventure. In a true twist of fate they went searching for whales but instead came back with astounding underwater photos featuring a female model that make you question the laws of physics.

These photos have won awards from all around the world, and are now on display in a special exhibition called Floating Bits, in Brisbane’s Maud Street Photo Gallery.

Erick tells us in this episode of Streets of Your Town, what keeps driving his creative quest, after decades of taking astounding photos all around the world.

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This episode of Streets of Your Town is a story of hope and reconciliation, through science.

The people of the Torres Strait Islands in far north Queensland have known for thousands upon thousand of years how their people have journeyed far across the Coral Sea, and now - finally - that First Nations knowledge is being more widely recognised.

The Queensland Museum exhibition Connections Across the Coral Sea: A Story of Movement,  brings together First Nations knowledge with archaeological research, showcasing for the first time a part of Queensland history that has not been previously acknowledged.

It shows how extensive international trade and relationships between ancient seafaring cultures of southern New Guinea, Torres Strait and the northeast coast of Queensland went back thousands of years, much further than science traditionally gave credence to.

I was lucky enough to interview a traditional owner whose expertise was pivotal in bringing this exhibition together, Dingaal spokesman Kenneth McLean, who explains how significant it is to have their extensive history given the platform it deserves.

I also spoke to one of the key archaeologists involved in this research, Professor of Indigenous Archaeology Ian McNiven from Monash University.

He says this exhibition is a pivotal development in science finally recognising the oral history of this region that has been handed down through hundreds of generations, giving it the scientific respect it has long deserved.

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It’s not often you talk to someone whose love for what they do is so infectious that it draws you into their world and makes you want to be part of it.

That was how I felt after speaking with Maestro Umberto Clerici - the world renowned cellist with a vision to take the music of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to the world stage.

As he tells us on this episode of Streets of Your Town, he defied the traditional route of how to become a conductor by being appointed the QSO’s Chief conductor designate, starting his three year term in January 2023.

Maestro Clerici’s approach as conductor is unique, not only rising from the orchestra to conductor in a highly unusual progression, but also as he describes, taking on his conductor role like an architect - giving the vision, but making the orchestra more independent. 

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Rising from impoverished beginnings in communist China, to international ballet dancer and author of best selling autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer, Li Cunxin has lived an enormous life on stages around the world. But as he tells us on this episode of Streets of Your Town, he is still full of gratitude for the opportunities he’s been able to embrace, particularly his present role as Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet, a tenure which has just been extended. Mao’s Last Dancer became an international best seller and movie, but Cunxin says the role which he is most proud of, is leading Queensland Ballet and its dancers. To celebrate his tenth year at the helm, he has personally curated a triple bill of his favourite works the company has performed. And in a wonderful confluence of historic events for his beloved Queensland company, he is also about to open its new home, fulfilling a transformation he envisioned from when he first began. 

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Nearly two decades on from her meteoric rise to fame with her surprise Australian Idol win at just 16 years of age, Casey Donovan is enjoying a renaissance in her musical career. She’s on a national tour around Australia starring as Judy Bernly in the musical production of 9 to 5, attracting many accolades, with spontaneous standing ovations after her showstopper solo Get Out and Stay Out. And she won’t stay still once that tour’s done, going back on the road in September with a series of live and intimate shows in her solo tour dubbed BluesDay - featuring her favourite bluesy tracks. On Streets of Your Town Casey tells us how thrilled she is to be back on stage after the pandemic years, and how she can feel the excited energy from the audience from being together again as well. What I love about making audio stories like this, is you can hear the joy and the energy in their voice. I defy anyone to hear Casey’s giggle, and not get a smile on their face.

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Reviving Indigenous languages through song is the driving force for Rochelle Pitt-Watson’s music.

Her Quandamooka and Meriam heritage underlie all of her songs, and she hopes that performing them brings some relief from the stresses of these post-covid times.

Rochelle is one of the First Nations artists taking centre stage at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in May for Clancestry—A Celebration of Country.

She tells us on Streets of Your Town about the significance of being part of a festival that showcases and celebrates First Nations artists, on land that for thousands of years has been a meeting and cultural place for Indigenous people of this land next to the Brisbane River, or Maiwar.

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This week on Streets of Your Town, we speak to renowned author and proud Wiradjuri woman Dr Anita Heiss, who is a special guest of the 60th Brisbane Writers Festival coming up in May. 

It's a pivotal year for Anita, as its ten years since the original edition of her book "Amy I Black Enough For You" was released, and it's also the 60th anniversary of the festival itself.

In Brisbane, and many areas around south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales, floods have inundated our homes, towns and cities It hit local communities hard, particularly artists who received little help from the government during the pandemic.

While Australian artists may have been largely abandoned during the pandemic, they are now gathering to raise money for those inundated by flood. 

Some may say that gathering to talk about art in the midst of a crisis is flippant. But Anita tells me on the podcast, many artists are gathering to raise money for those inundated by flood. And gathering together again she says is actually crucial for communities to recover. 

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I figured we all need some light and hope in the world right now, so I’m bringing Streets of Your Town to you from Daylesford in regional Victoria, where the Chill Out Festival takes over the town from March 10 to 14.

Many of you will know plenty about the party that is Sydney Mardi Gras. What you may not know is that little Daylesford is on the map for its own pride festival, which this year celebrates its 25 year silver jubilee. The town comes alive with a Carnivale, champagne and Chill Out Street Parade, that transforms the central highlands of Victoria into queer country. 

Come sit with me at Larder, one of the town’s most well known coffee haunts, where I meet Mathew Charlesworth, who tells me how Daylesford is the gay capital of regional Victoria. This isn’t just a recent phenomenon, Daylesford has become well known for being a friendly space for LGBTQI communities from around the country, for decades.

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Karen Jacobsen's voice is familiar to the users of more than a billion devices worldwide, as the voice of Siri.

But her movements in the past year are less well known than her voice, which has directed people to their destination through GPS devices around the globe.

The pandemic meant she picked up from her home of 20 years in New York, and returned to Australia. She tells us on Streets of Your Town podcast, that she thought this would be a short sojourn.

But more than 18 months down the track, Karen and her family are still living in the Whitsundays, and Karen has just released her latest album “Ready for What I Came Here For”, which she started recording in New York before Covid-19 hit, and finished by recording remotely from her island home.

She tells us in this episode of Streets of Your Town how she feels she is now embarking on the most exciting chapter of her life as an independent artist in her 50's, embracing the positivity of her music and message.

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