DIAMANDA GALÁS

One of the most important vocalists and performers of our time, Diamanda Galás was born to an Anatolian-Greek couple. Her piano talent was evident from early on – when 14 years old she had already played solo with the San Diego Symphony. She studied jazz as well as classical music and joined the finest milieu as an improviser, working with Mark Dresser, Butch Morris, Roberto Miranda, David Murray, and Bobby Bradford. She firmly stepped into rock (cooperating with John Paul Jones, the Led Zeppelin bass player), and soon brought in radical politics (HIV virus and clinical depression), with always and everywhere exquisite blues. Albums came, one better than the other. She published a book entitled Shit of God in 1996 in order to achieve a “better understanding of five texts” and has performed the works of her great fellow artist Iannis Xenakis and those composed by her devoted admirer, John Zorn. She has also performed with l'Ensemble contemporain and Musique Vivante. Voice/music for films: F. F. Coppola (Dracula), Derek Jarman, Mercedes Moncada Rodriguez, Wes Craven, Clive Barker, etc.