The Living Circle Community

The Living Circle is a community of artists, musicians, educators and cultural advisors who collaborate across cultures and creative genres and have performed at conferences, festivals, exhibitions and in local, national and international events. Members of the Living Circle community have been collaborating on intercultural arts projects over the last sixteen years.

Members of The Living Circle Community include …

Lisa Kennedy is a Trawlwoolway woman from North East Tasmania and is a visual artist, story-teller, published author, book illustrator and community development facilitator. She has completed a Master of Visual Arts at Monash University

Aunty Fay Stewart-Muir is an Elder and Traditional Owner of Boon Wurrung Country. She is the senior linguist at the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages in Melbourne. She presents language related workshops to community members who are reclaiming their languages, as well as schools, universities and TAFEs.

Camille Monet is a community development artist who specialises in visual art and decorative earthenware ceramics using underglazes and ceramic sculptures fired using the raku technique. Camille graduated with honours in fine arts from Griffith University in Queensland, going on to major in ceramics at RMIT in Victoria where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

 Lyndal Chambers is an experienced singer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. As CMVic’s ‘StreetSounds’ Project Manager, she has been the key facilitator behind the establishment of ten new street bands in Victoria over the last two years.

 Brian ‘Strat’ Strating is a trained teacher, singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who has performed and taught in the Australian music scene for more than 30 years. He has been leader and founding member of over nine bands around Victoria.

 Jane Coker is a singer and multi-instrumentalist with a lifetime’s experience of facilitating inclusive, participatory music. As well as being an experienced vocalist, Jane plays saxophones, clarinet, mandolin, guitar and ukulele.

Kutcha Edwards was born on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River at Balranald, New South Wales, of the Mutti Mutti people and is among the many of the Stolen Generations. Through his music, he tells people about himself and shares his unique journey, one that is also the journey of all Australians.

 Uncle Herb Patten is a Gunnai elder and one of Australia’s most well-known gumleaf players. He is an accomplished singer and guitarist and has been playing music professionally since the 1960s. He has completed a Master of Arts exploring Aboriginal Heritage through Gumleaf Music.

 Steve Sedergreen is a jazz pianist and teacher who has made a vital and indelible imprint on the Australian jazz scene over the past 25 years and has acted as a mentor and teacher to countless young jazz musicians.  Deep Listening is a concept that Steve has investigated through his postgraduate research and in his collaborations with Indigenous musicians and visual artists.

 Michael Jordan is a highly regarded musician and educator. He is a professional improviser and has been a professional drum-kit performer for over thirty years. Michael has been a major part of Australia’s jazz scene for the last 25 years, performing regularly at festivals, on radio and television.

Ron Murray is a Wamba Wamba man and is a highly regarded didgeridoo player, story-teller, mediator, communicator and wood sculptor. He works in prisons, schools, at public forums and at festivals. In his work, he builds bridges of awareness between Indigenous and Western cultures. Ron has completed a Master of Arts in cross-cultural education through the Arts.

Peter Corser is an artist, sculptor, sailor and educator who has worked for many years with Aboriginal community members in Vocational and Higher Education sectors and within the Corrections System

Ruth McKittrick is a musician, composer and educator who facilitates community music-making and who has a long on-going association with the Aboriginal community of Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land

Mick Harding is a Taungwurrung Kulin visual artist, woodworker, poet and story-teller who belongs to the Yowung-Illam-Baluk and Yeerun-illam-baluk clans. He has completed his Master of Visual Arts at Federation University

Ronald Edwards is a Gunaikurnai visual artist, cultural educator and performer who is undertaking a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the Gippsland Centre for Art and Design at Federation University.

Robert Bundle is a singer-songwriter and musician who has been writing and performing music for more than 35 years. He has performed with artists such as David Gulpilil, Kutcha Edwards, Dave Arden, Bart Willoughby, Archie Roach and many others. Also a filmmaker, MC and a musical historian of the Songlines, Robbie’s latest album, Universal Ark, is out now.

 Aunty Dr Doris Paton is a highly respected Gunnai/Monaro Ngarigo woman who has worked in education for over 30 years. She is also a leader in the field of the recovery and restoration of Aboriginal languages. She completed a PhD in which she is used quilt-making as a narrative tool.

 Aurelio Denasha is an Ojibway singer, dancer and story-teller who is dedicated to passing on the richness of his culture and to facilitating cultural exchange through the arts. He has been performing internationally and in Australia for over 30 years.

 Bryce Grunden is an award-winning sound artist who creates sound environments, ‘cultural sound’ and integrated media. He contributes to documentaries, exhibitions, installations and ‘experiential environments’ and has collaborated on a number of installations and exhibitions combining art, vision, sound, light and interactive media.

Eva Grunden grew up in a musical family and has performed on stage, acting and singing all her life, singing professionally since she was 17. Eva’s playing and passion for a variety of percussion styles and music from other cultures led her to travel to Ghana in West Africa to learn traditional drumming, singing and dance.

 Mark Grunden is a multi-talented musician, percussionist and educator who has the capacity to bring crowds alive with his drumming. He is well known for leading participative drumming events which weave together different rhythms, percussion instruments and chants.

Jeannie Haughton is a freelance writer, producer, performer with a background in education and puppetry with over 20 professional and community works produced since 1999, Jeannie’s performance works are diverse. In 2010 Jeannie co-founded Off The Leash Theatre.

Padma Newsome is an internationally acclaimed performer, composer, musical director, and community artist. He was trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Adelaide and Yale University. He has recorded with and performed with numerous ensembles including Clogs. The Australian Chamber Orchestra, The National and Daniel Helin.

Mandy Nicholson belongs to the Wurundjeri-willam (Woiwurrung language) clan of the Kulin Nation. Mandy has practised visual art since 1994 and studied Koorie art and design at RMIT University in Bundoora and Monash University. Primarily a painter, Mandy also produces ceramics, carvings, murals, prints, designs and children’s clothing.

 Anthony (ToK) Norris is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist and plays trumpet, flugel-horn, guitar, keyboards. He is a composer, producer, engineer, teacher with 35 years in the Australian and International music industry. He has 14 years’ experience of teaching Sound Production at Melbourne’s RMIT University.

 Monica Weightman is a singer/songwriter from North Queensland now based in Melbourne. She is a highly gifted singer, song-writer and guitarist and is committed to working with young and disadvantaged members of the community.