Artists & Projects Directory

• Africa Consortium
• David Zambrano
• Dean Moss
• Faustin Linyekula
• Gregory Maqoma
• Lars Jan
• Leila Buck
• Marc Bamuthi Joseph
• Nora Chipaumire
• Ralph Lemon
• The America Project
• Voices of Strength

Gregory Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theatre

Giuliano Modarelli
Originally from Italy, Giuliano Modarelli is stylistically unique guitarist. During his musical training he explored many different genres of music from Western Classical to Trip Hop, Klezmer to Heavy Rock. After studying Jazz at University, he went on study under UK renowned sitarist Dharambir Singh and Indian classical maestro Buddhadev Dasgupta. His style is a subtle blend of World Folk, Arabic, Flamenco, Latin and Eastern European. His breadth of knowledge and soulful improvisation have led to awards and scholarships from the Arts Council England, SAA-UK, Sampad, Milapfest and others, enabling him to work with and learn from some of the world's most respected Indian Classical musicians such as L. Subramanian, J. Bose and Pt Ajoy Chakraborty.

In addition to being a solo artist, Giuliano is also a core member of UK based band Samay, which combines traditional forms with a range of contemporary influences to reinvent the sound of Indian Classical Music, blending Jazz, Flamenco, Samba, Funk and Chill Out to create both powerful and dynamic arrangements. As part of the international project Sunev featuring Grammy Award winning tabla star Bikram Ghosh (Rhythm Scape), he co-wrote and performed for the soundtrack of the Mira Nair film, Little Zizou (2008 - presented at NY Film Festival and Cannes). He is also featured on the soundtrack of the latest Sangeeta Datta Film Life Goes On.

Giuliano writes for theatre and dance, touring nationally and internationally with companies such as: Balbir Singh Dance Company, Motion Manual, Diversity Dance, Red Ladder Theatre and Phoenix Dance Theatre. He has also developed various music projects in the UK (such as Klezmer Trip with Bill Laurence, My Journey with Manvir Singh, Nshwa, Raga Nova) and performs regularly in prestigious venues throughout the country (Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Barbican, The Purcell Room, Bridgewater Hall, CBSO, BBC Venue/Radio) as well as at Darbar Festival, Music Port, Bestival, Womex, and Jazz and World Music festivals throughout the UK and abroad. Giuliano regularly works and trains in India where he tours with many outstanding artists such as Bickram Ghosh, Paban Das Baul, Pete Lockett, Purbayann Chatterjee, Sandip Chatterjee. These collaborations have allowed him to explore many different styles of South-Asian music including Bengali Folk, Rajastany Folk, Gazals, Thumri, Kayal, deepening his awareness of world music and continuing his journey into innovative and eclectic excellence.

Complete
Formed by brothers Happy and Bongikosi Motha in 2001 and later joined by Linda Thobela and Bubele Mgele, Complete is a vocal indulgence of harmonic voices. The quartet found its wings in the Assembly of God Church in Boksburg, Vosloorus, where they have built a fan base with regular performances. They were then recruited by Benjamin Dube to be part of the critically-acclaimed Praise Explosion 2004 and went on to perform at the T.D Jakes Mega Fest concert in Johannesburg, South Africa. Complete has a vision to touch and change the hearts of music lover's worldwide through singing gospel, RnB, and Scathamiya, a popular South African genre. Complete's music is spiritual, mature and extravagant and crosses cultural, racial and class barriers. Upon winning three awards in the Ekurhuleni local gospel competition (2003-2005) they were awarded an opportunity to perform at the 2004 KORA All Africa Music Awards. They have also worked with the legendary Hugh Masekela on 100 years of South African Music, and on Songs of Migration, featuring Sibongile Khumalo. The group recently toured Germany and has worked with the legendary pianist Themba Mkhize and SWR big band.  In South Africa, Complete was featured on Hip-Hop group Deep Level's song Thula mama and recorded a hit song -- I'm complete -- on house group Revolution's album tribal journey. They are currently working on a new album.