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Biography
Use dmy dates|date=April 2011Use Australian English|date=April 2011Infobox musical artist|name = Lisa Gerrard|background = solo_singer|image = Lisa Gerrard 2007-05-25 SIFF2007 Cropped.jpg|caption =|birth_name = Lisa Gerrard|origin = Melbourne , Australia |birth_date = Birth date and age|df=yes|1961|4|12|genre = Neoclassical (Dark Wave)|Neoclassical , New Age , Ethereal Wave , Gothic rock |occupation = Composer Singer Musician|years_active = 1981–present|instrument = singing|Vocals , accordion , electronic keyboard|keyboards , yangqin , Hammered dulcimer|dulcimer , guitar |label = http://www.lisagerrard.com Gerrard Records|associated_acts = Dead Can Dance |website = http://www.lisagerrard.com Lisa Gerrard Lisa Gerrard (born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician , singer , and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry .
Since her career began in 1981, she has been involved in a wide range of projects. Gerrard received a Golden Globe Award for the music score to the film Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator , on which she collaborated with Hans Zimmer . In addition to singing, she is an instrumentalist for much of her work, most prolifically using the yangqin (a Chinese hammered dulcimer ).
Early life
Lisa Gerrard was born 12 April 1961 in Melbourne and grew up in the suburb of Prahran with her Irish immigrant parents. On her upbringing, she has said she grew up with "Mediterranean music blaring out of the houses" and that this influenced her music, particularly on later Dead Can Dance albums and in her solo and collaborative works. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/truly-madly-deeply-dippy-1597797.html Interview with The Independent Newspaper
Gerrard's first foray into forming bands and creative music-making was the highly experimental Little band scene|Little Band scene . It was at one of these little band events that she first met Dead Can Dance cofounder Brendan Perry . Perry recalls, "It never occurred to me that we would one day collaborate musically together because at the time I thought her music was too avant garde. I particularly remember one song that she sang about finding a man in the park and asking her mother if she could bring him home to keep in her wardrobe as she attacked this chinese dulcimer with two bamboo sticks." http://ark.brendan-perry.com/biography.php Brendan Perry biography, brendan-perry.com. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
Career
Dead Can Dance
main|Dead Can DanceDead Can Dance originally formed as a quartet in 1981 in Melbourne , but in 1982 moved to London with members Brendan Perry , Lisa Gerrard, and bass player Paul Erikson . Shortly after coming to England, Erikson flew back to Australia, leaving the band as a duo. Dead Can Dance recorded eight albums on the 4AD Records recording label beginning with the 1984 Long play|LP , Dead Can Dance (album)|Dead Can Dance . The band split in 1998, but reunited in 2005 for a world tour.
Solo and collaborative career
listen |filename= Now We Are Free.ogg |title= "Now We Are Free" (2000) |description= 30 second extract from "Now We Are Free" by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Theme from Gladiator (2000 film) .|format= Ogg In 1995 Gerrard recorded and released her first solo album The Mirror Pool . After the release of this album, she continued to work with Dead Can Dance, releasing their final album, Spiritchaser , in 1996. Following this, in 1998 she recorded Duality (Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke album)|Duality in collaboration with Pieter Bourke . This album would mark the beginning of an extensive collaboration for a number of film scores, including The Insider (film)|The Insider and Ali (film)|Ali . Gerrard began a new collaboration with Patrick Cassidy (composer)|Patrick Cassidy in 2004 with the release of Immortal Memory (album)|Immortal Memory . Again, this collaboration was furthered in film work, including '' Salem's Lot .
The following year in 2005, Gerrard contributed to the Ashes and Snow Soundtrack. For the songs "Womb" and "Wisdom," Gerrard and Patrick Cassidy wrote and performed together. Gerrard's collaboration with Cassidy extended to include work with conductor Julie Rogers on the songs "Devota" and "Vespers."
In 2006, Sanctuary (documentary)|Sanctuary , a documentary about the life and work of Lisa Gerrard, was recorded and released in September 2006. It is the work of multi-skilled producer/director Clive Collier and features extensive interviews with Lisa Gerrard and various people who have collaborated and worked with her in the past including Michael Mann (director)|Michael Mann , Russell Crowe , Hans Zimmer , and Niki Caro . The documentary was released on DVD by Milan Entertainment on 24 April 2007.
In the same year, Lisa Gerrard released her second solo album The Silver Tree . This album was markedly different from her previous work and was also her first album released outside of 4AD Records. The album was first released on iTunes , with a wider physical release planned at a future date. The album was nominated for the Australian Music Prize for 2006. It is currently shortlisted as one out of nine of the best Australian albums. In 2007 a retrospective album The Best of Lisa Gerrard , a compilation of fifteen songs, was released covering her career in Dead Can Dance, solo work, and film work.
A world tour was undertaken in 2007 beginning in April in Melbourne, Australia. This tour marked the first time Lisa Gerrard had toured in Australia, with a performance in three cities. The tour was followed by performances in Europe and North America. More performances took place in Europe and Russia from 30 October to 22 November 2007. http://www.deadcandancelibrary.com/ deadcandancelibrary.com In November 2007, Lisa Gerrard collaborated with German electronic musician Klaus Schulze on the double-album Farscape (album)|Farscape . The album was released 27 July 2008 and was followed by a European tour.
In 2009 Lisa Gerrard completed work on the documentary by Australian adventurer Tim Cope called http://www.timcopejourneys.com/index.pl? page=1446/ On the Trail of Genghis Khan and contributed her voice to the soundtrack, which began airing in 2010, of the Japanese NHK taiga drama Ryomaden , a story based on the life of Sakamoto Ryoma . Also in 2009, Lisa Gerrard created her own record label, Gerrard Records, which, aside from being a conduit for the release of Gerrard's future works will also act to promote and support unrecognised artists of all genres. In September 2009, Gerrard and Klaus Schulze performed another tour in six European cities - Warsaw , Berlin , Amsterdam , Essen , Paris , and Brussels . This tour coincided with the release of Come Quietly , a joint project between Gerrard and Schulze that was released during the tour.
Lisa Gerrard released her third solo album, The Black Opal in October 2009. The album included collaboration with Michael Edwards (British composer)|Michael Edwards , Patrick Cassidy (composer)|Patrick Cassidy , Pieter Bourke , and James Orr (musician)|James Orr and was the first release to come from Gerrard Records.
In 2010 Gerrard released a new album with fellow composer Marcello De Francisci titled "Departum" from Gerrard Records which was followed by the release of three new singles; "Coming Home" - as featured in '' Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole , "Entry" and "Come This Way".
Gerrard also collaborated with Prash Mistry from "Engine Earz Experiment" on a track titled "Spirit Guide" which will appear on his upcoming album in 2011.
On 1 December 2010 Gerrard capped off a busy 2010 with the release of a new soundtrack album with Cye Wood titled "The Trail of Genghis Khan" which contains music from the Gerrard/Wood score to the documentary TV series by Australian adventurer Tim Cope .
Vocal style
Lisa Gerrard's vocals have been variously described as rich, jaw-dropping, deep, dark, mournful and unique.cite web|author=Original Soundtrack |url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1NDOU50KT9KQW |title=A Customer's review of Gladiator: Music from the Motion Picture |publisher=Amazon.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2011-10-04cite web|url= http://www.tower.com/mirror-pool-lisa-gerrard-cassette/wapi/106411002 |title=Music: The Mirror Pool (Cassette) by Lisa Gerrard (Artist) |publisher=Tower.com |date=1995-08-22 |accessdate=2011-10-04cite web|url= http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2007/05/19/lisa-gerrard-concert/ |title=Lisa Gerrard On Tour |publisher=Synthtopia |date=2007-05-19 |accessdate=2011-10-04 Her vocal range is contralto , spanning 1 note E3-F5, (2 octaves). http://www.musicfolio.com/modernrock/lisagerrard.html Lisa Gerrard She extends into the mezzo-soprano|dramatic mezzo-soprano range on The Host of Seraphim , Elegy , Space Weaver and Come This Way . http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Z4PqWjug1Jg Elegy http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ZV2dcF_BYvI The Host of Seraphim Gerrard performs in the contralto|dramatic contralto range on the other songs, Sanvean , Sacrifice , Ombra mai fu|Largo and Gladiator (soundtrack)#More Music From Gladiator| Not Yet . http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=BoXsxYf2UMA Sacrifice http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=1xpkRj99FH0 Sanvean http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=fXc_YVn73PA& feature=related Largo http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=6p7D5CGY4sg Not Yet
Gerrard sings many of her songs, such as Now We Are Free , Come Tenderness , Serenity , The Valley of the Moon , Tempest , Pilgrimage of Lost Children , Coming Home and Sanvean in an idioglossia (an idiosyncratic language) that she has developed since the age of twelve.Citation needed|date=January 2012
Film career
Lisa Gerrard's first experience in composing music for a film came with the 1989 Spanish film El Niño de la Luna , directed by Agustín Villaronga . The film score was composed by Dead Can Dance and the film featured Lisa Gerrard in her first acting role. El Niño de la Luna describes the story of David, a young orphan with special powers, escaping an institution with the help of a fellow institute inmate, Georgina, played by Lisa Gerrard.
Gerrard participated in a number of musical scores but came to fame as a film composer after recording The Insider (film)|The Insider in 1999, with Pieter Bourke , and Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator in 2000, with Hans Zimmer , which received an Academy Award nomination for best music score, although only Zimmer was nominated. It did, however, win a Golden Globe Award for both composers. Gerrard's score for the New Zealand independent film Whale Rider consisted entirely of solo material; a soundtrack album was released by 4AD .
In 2005 Gerrard collaborated with Ennio Morricone for Fateless (film)|Fateless followed by a collaboration with Jeff Rona on the score for the feature film "A Thousand Roads" and the song On an Ocean for the Henry Poole Is Here score. Gerrard along with Dead Can Dance also provided several contributions to the soundtrack of Baraka (film)|Baraka , a visual journey showcasing mankind's impact on our planet. Gerrard was also invited by Denez Prigent to collaborate with him on his piece "Gortoz a ran - J'attends" (meaning "I await"), a piece that was later used in the soundtrack of Ridley Scott 's film Black Hawk Down (film)|Black Hawk Down .
In 2009 Lisa Gerrard wrote the score for Balibo (2009 film)|Balibo , for which she won a Best Feature Film Score award at the APRA Awards|2009 APRA Screen Music Awards and an Aria Award for Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009|2009 Aria Awards . Gerrard finished 2009 by contributing her voice to the theme song for the Japanese NHK taiga drama Ryomaden , which began airing in 2010.
In 2010 Gerrard completed the score for "Tears of Gaza" with Marcello De Francisci which was well received despite its controversial theme.cite web|last=Anderson |first=John |url= http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943645? refcatid=31 |title=Variety Reviews - Tears of Gaza - Film Reviews - Toronto - Review by John Anderson |publisher=Variety.com |date=2010-09-20 |accessdate=2011-10-04 Gerrard also scored the Jim Loach directed Oranges and Sunshine starring Emily Watson and Hugo Weaving released in April 2011.
In November 2010 Gerrard provided vocals and additional music for the post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Priest (2011 film)|Priest scored by Christopher Young which was released in 2011.
Personal life
Lisa Gerrard is married to graphic design artist/music producer Jacek Tuschewski , and has 2 children. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0314713/bio
Discography
Dead Can Dance
see|Dead Can Dance discography
Career after Dead Can Dance
Solo Albums
* The Mirror Pool (1995)
* The Silver Tree (2006), release on iTunes and by Rubber Records and re-released in 2010 by http://www.lisagerrardmusic.com/ Gerrard Records
* The Best of Lisa Gerrard (2007)
* The Black Opal (2009) released by http://www.lisagerrardmusic.com/ Gerrard Records
* Immortal Memory (album)|Immortal Memory (2004), with Patrick Cassidy (composer)|Patrick Cassidy
* Ashes and Snow (2006) with Patrick Cassidy (composer)|Patrick Cassidy
* Farscape (album)|Farscape (2008) with Klaus Schulze
* Rheingold (Klaus Schulze album)|Rheingold (2008) with Klaus Schulze
* Dziekuje Bardzo (2009) with Klaus Schulze
* "Come Quietly" (2009) with Klaus Schulze
* Departum (2010) with Marcello De Francisci
* The Trail of Genghis Khan (2010) with Cye Wood
Miscellaneous
* Microfile: Centerfold 7" ("Centerfold" and "Window") (1981)
* Compilation entitled "From Belgrave with Love" ("Mossaic" by Lisa Gerrard and "Summer house" by Microfilm) 1981
* The Future Sound of London sample her vocals from the song "Dawn of the Iconoclast" for their 1992 hit single " Papua New Guinea (single)|Papua New Guinea " (1992)
* French promo CD-single "La bas" and "Lament"
* Compilation entitled "These Wings without Feathers" ("Dreamsong" and "Untitled") (1996)
* Guest performer for the Industrial music|industrial / electronic music group Delerium entitled "Forgotten Worlds" on the album, Karma (Delerium album)|Karma (1997)
* "The Wings of a Film - The Music of Hans Zimmer" ("Now We Are Free" live)
* With Orbital (band)|Orbital : "One Perfect Sunrise" on the album Blue Album (Orbital album)|The Blue Album (2004)
* Orbital featuring Lisa Gerrard: "One Perfect Sunrise" (radio mix) CD single
* Orbital featuring Lisa Gerrard: "One Perfect Sunrise" (Phil Hartnoll mix) CD single
* With Denez Prigent : "J'attends - Gortoz A Ran" with Denez Prigent on the album Irvi
* "An Hini a Garan" with Denez Prigent on the Album '' Sarac'h
* Mantras of a Lost Archetype (unreleased solo album)
* The Ashes and Snow art exhibition by Gregory Colbert , (with Patrick Cassidy (composer)|Patrick Cassidy and Michael Brook , "Devota", "Vespers", "Womb", "Wisdom")
* View from a Window collaborative song recording in track title "There in Your Arms" (2008) with Josiah Brooks
* "Wisdom of Wind" composition with Jeff Rona , recorded by Tarja Turunen for her album My Winter Storm (2007) and present in the " Enough (single)|Enough " single (2009)
Movie score composing/contribution
Dèmoni 2 (1986) (as Dead Can Dance)
El Niño de la Luna (1989) (as Dead Can Dance, also with Lisa Gerrard in her acting debut)
Baraka (film)|Baraka (1992) (as Dead Can Dance , with Michael Stearns )
Heat (1995 film)|Heat (1995) featured previously recorded material from The Mirror Pool
Nadro (film)|Nadro (1998)
The 13th Warrior (1999) with Graeme Revell (score later withdrawn)
The Insider (film)#Soundtrack|The Insider: Soundtrack (1999), with Pieter Bourke
Gladiator (2000 soundtrack)|Gladiator (2000) with Hans Zimmer
Gladiator (2000 soundtrack)#More Music From Gladiator|Gladiator: More Music From the Motion Picture (2000, released 2001) with Hans Zimmer
Mission: Impossible II (2000) with Hans Zimmer
Black Hawk Down (film)|Black Hawk Down (2001) - Song: "J'attends - Gortoz A Ran" with Denez Prigent
Ali (film)|Ali (2001) with Pieter Bourke
9/11 (film)|9/11 (2002) - Song: "Sorrow" composed with Klaus Badelt
Whalerider (Original Soundtrack) (2003)
Tears of the Sun (2003) with Hans Zimmer
The West Wing (TV series)|The West Wing (Television) (2003) - Song: "Sanvean" in the episode 7A WF 83429
King Arthur (film)|King Arthur (2004) - Song: "Amergin's Invocation"
One Perfect Day (2004)
The Passion of the Christ (2004) with Patrick Cassidy (score withdrawn)
Man on Fire (2004 film)|Man on Fire (2004) with Harry Gregson-Williams
'' 'Salem's Lot (2004 TV miniseries)|'Salem's Lot (TV mini-series) (2004) with Patrick Cassidy (composer)|Patrick Cassidy and Christopher Gordon
Constantine (film)|Constantine (2005) (score incomplete and withdrawn)
Fateless (film)|Fateless (2005) with Ennio Morricone ("A song", "A Voice from the Inside", "Return to the Life")
Seoul Train (2005)
The Greater Meaning of Water (2006) previously recorded material
The Mist (film)|The Mist (2007) (The Host of Seraphim)
Playing for Charlie (2008)
Ichi (2008 film)|Ichi (2008) with Michael Edwards
Henry Poole Is Here (2008)
Balibo (2009 film)|Balibo (2009)
Ryomaden|Ryomaden (2010) Theme Song to TV Series
From Ararat to Zion (2010) with Ara Torosyan
'' Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010) -"The Host of the Seraphim" (DCD) and "Coming Home" (solo).
Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
Tears of Gaza (2010)
Samsara (2011 film)|Samsara (sequel to Baraka (film)|Baraka ) composer of original music, with Michael Stearns and Marcello De Francisci
Priest (2011 film)|Priest - vocals and additional music
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011)
Diablo 3 (201*)
Sources
reflist
External links
commons category
http://www.lisagerrard.com Lisa Gerrard: Official Site
IMDb name|id=0314713|name=Lisa Gerrard
Dead Can DanceGolden Globe Award for Best Original Score 1990–2009 Persondata | NAME =Gerrard, Lisa | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =12 April 1961 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard, Lisa Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:4AD artists Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian contraltos Category:Female film score composers Category:Australian film score composers Category:Australian composers Category:Australian women composers Category:Women composers Category:Musicians from Melbourne Category:Mission: Impossible music Category:Australian people of Irish descent
