Sonya Holowell is a Dharawal and Inuk artist rendering voice and literature. For over a decade Sonya’s expansive vocal practice has woven avante-garde world premieres with electro-acoustic experiments with medieval chant and spontaneous long-form composition. She explores the plural self in its network of relations, and how vocalities can wound hegemonies. She enjoys bringing this mantle to collaboration with others, including as consultant, board director, host and panelist. Amongst many projects, Sonya performs regularly with modular synthesist Ben Carey in their duo Sumn Conduit, and is a current PhD candidate in Indigenist Artistic Research. 

 

Sonya’s work as a vocalist and composer has been shown on numerous platforms including Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Resonant Bodies Festival, Sydney Biennale, Vivid Festival, soundSCAPE Italy, Soft Centre, Liveworks Festival, the Now Now Festival, Sydney Fringe Festival, Moorambilla Festival, The Banff Centre (Canada), Canberra International Music Festival, Chamber Made Hi-Viz Practice Exchange, SoundOut Festival, and others. She has collaborated with leading new music ensembles such as the Song Company, JACK Quartet, Ensemble Offspring, International Contemporary Ensemble, Decibel, Tura New Music and the Australian Art Orchestra, and has presented her manifold work at venues that include the Sydney Opera House, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Museum of Contemporary Art, Carriageworks, Institute of Modern Art, The Powerhouse Museum, MUMA and the National Gallery of Australia.

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Photo: still from film by Hospital Hill