Mama Alto
Mama Alto is a gender transcendent diva, cabaret artiste, jazz singer & community activist. She is a non-binary trans femme person of colour who works with the radical potential of storytelling, strength in softness & power in vulnerability. Fierce, femme & fabulous, she has been lauded as "divine" (Havana Tribune, Cuba), "near flawless" (The Age), and "a knockout" (The Herald Sun). She fascinates audiences with "an idiosyncratic mix of statuesque fragility" (The Music) and is described as "transcendent" (Stage Whispers), "breathtaking" (ArtsHub), "hypnotically beautiful, elegant & mysterious" (Adelaide Advertiser) & "bewitching" (SameSame). Drawing on legacies of vintage torch singers & her own identity as a queer person of colour, Mama Alto's vocal & visual aesthetic transcend gender, disrupting & discomforting societal constructions of dichotomous boundaries. By embracing perceived difference she reclaims narratives of othering, empowers the marginalised, defies the normative & rejoices in the sublime.
Solo works: Mama's self-created and self-produced cabaret performances have garnered critical praise and audience connections of deep love and empathy. Highlights of these performances include her sold out "Lady Sings The Blues: A Centenary of Billie Holiday" performances at the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2015 to commemorate one hundred years since the birth of Billie Holiday, her widely adored "Salon Series" of intimate tea parlour shows at Carlton's Porcelain tea rooms throughout 2016, the landmark event "Exquisite: An Evening with Mama Alto" presented at the National Theatre Melbourne in 2017, and her near cult status jazz and cabaret lounge sessions at treasured local icons such as The Butterfly Club, Hares & Hyenas and Chapel off Chapel. Almost all of these projects have resulted from Mama's seven year creative partnership with jazz pianist and musical directress Miss Chief. In late 2017 and early 2018, Mama Alto toured her queer empowerment cabaret "Queerly Beloved" to Feast Festival in Adelaide, Midsumma in Melbourne, and as a premiere event at the 40th Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, whilst her ongoing cabaret work "Mama Alto: Torch Songs" was selected as a Voicebox headliner at the 2018 Festival of Voices in Hobart.
Collaborations: Mama Alto adores working in collaboration with other artists, and has been blessed to perform impromptu duets with luminaries such as Paul Capsis, and with Mary Wilson of The Supremes. Mama has also worked with Brook Andrew in the acclaimed multidisciplinary postcolonial art installation "De Anima" (2014), performed with Phillip Adams BalletLab in a piece for NGV International (2014), made guest appearances with The Boon Companions (2016) and Panti Bliss & ThisIsPopBaby's "Riot" (2018), and featured in the 2017 Malthouse Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company co-production of Declan Greene's "The Homosexuals." Mama frequently participates in variety line-ups and artists' collectives, especially those which prioritise the voices of queer and trans people of colour such as Colour Tongues, the Cocoa Butter Club, and Myriad Collective. She has been a guest performer for "Queerstories" at Giant Dwarf (Sydney) as well as the "Queerstories in the House" special edition at Sydney Opera House. Three most notable highlights amongst Mama's collaborative works are her performances with playwright and composer duo Darwent & Gray, including their original piece "The Adulteresses" which garnered 4 stars in The Age, and secondly, her proud status as an ongoing company member of legendary burlesque production house Finucane & Smith - including sold out and highly revered seasons of "Glory Box" (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Havana, Cuba in 2015; Melbourne in 2016), "The Birds" (Adelaide and Darwin in 2016), and "The Rapture" (Melbourne in 2017). Third, but not least, in 2017 she became a company member of the Melbourne Festival and Pomegranate Arts presentation of Taylor Mac's multi-award winning epic, "A 24-Decade History of Popular Music" - not only as a Dandy Minion ensemble member, but also performing several duets with Taylor Mac, as well as a celebrated solo under the musical direction of Matt Ray.
Awards: Mama Alto was the delighted recipient of the 2014 Weekly Award for Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe, the 2016 Arts Access Victoria Outstanding Access & Inclusion Award at Melbourne Fringe, and the 2017 Artist of the Year Award at the GLOBE LGBTI Awards. As part of an ensemble, she was amongst the company recipients of the 2015 CHAMACO Award for Best International Production in Cuba (with Finucane & Smith's "Glory Box") and the 2017 Best Cabaret Award at Melbourne Fringe (with Becky Lou's "Seen & Heard"). Additionally, she has been a nominee for the 2014 BankSA Best Cabaret Award at Adelaide Fringe, the 2015 Artist of the Year Award at the GLOBE LGBTI Awards, and the 2017 Best Actress in a Play in the Broadway World Sydney Awards.
Festivals: Mama's past festival credits include performances at Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, the American Songbook Festival, Antidote Festival (Sydney), Castlemaine State Festival, Darwin Festival, Feast (Adelaide), Festival of Voices (Hobart), Fringe World (Perth), Havana International Theatre Festival, Mardi Gras (Sydney), Marysville Jazz & Blues Weekend, Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Melbourne Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Midsumma, Stonnington Jazz Festival, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, and Wonderland (Brisbane).
Advocacy & Activism, Charity & Community: Mama Alto is known for her community work beyond the arts. Her incisive advocacy as a social commentator and spokesperson in the media on issues surrounding gender, race and sexuality most notably include her BBC World Service radio interview with The Cultural Frontline on marriage equality, and a video interview on culture, gender, activism and the arts with Heaps Gay which has accumulated over 18,000 views. She has spoken at protests including the prominent Melbourne community actions for Safe Schools and Equal Love, and performed for fundraising events supporting Sisters & Brothers NT, the Victorian AIDS Council, Minus18, ChillOut festival, Midsumma, Equal Love, and multiple other community causes and individual benefits. Mama has also organised and hosted fundraisers for the Melbourne Period Project and for the Yes Campaign, and performed at community events for Equinox Gender Diverse Health Centre, Trans Sydney Pride, and Minus18. On January 9th 2018, Mama Alto was honoured to perform at one of the first legal same-sex weddings in Australia for Ron van Houwelingen & Antony McManus. She presented the prestigious 2018 Molly Hadfield Social Justice Oration for the City of Darebin International Women's Day event, advocating for recognition of, and equality for, trans women.
Writer, Speaker, Educator: Mama has contributed her writing to several publications, including a chapter surveying queer people of colour in the arts for the AGMC Inc (Australian Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Intersex Queer Multicultural Council) publication "Living & Loving in Diversity," an essay on identity for the Regional Arts Victoria publication "The Cinemas Project," a chapter of the 2018 Hachette Books publication "Queerstories," and articles for The Music on Taylor Mac and Archer Magazine on queer empowerment and empathy throughout the 2017 national postal survey on marriage equality. As a speaker, Mama has co-presented a paper on the radical possibilities of, and parallels between, the archives and the cabaret with Dr Sue McKemmish at the 2017 Monash Prato Centre CIRN (Community Informatics Research Network) conference, "Art and Archive: Art as Archive, Archive as Art," and spoken on intersections of trans and person of colour identities in panel discussions for many organisations including the 2018 Better Together conference, the Victorian Public Sector Pride Network's 2017 IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex Discriminations & Transphobia) event, for the Victorian AIDS Council's 2016 screening of "Major! A New Documentary Film." As an educator, she has facilitated and taught workshops on cabaret for Maude Davey's "Intimate Acts" unit at the VCA (Victorian College of the Arts), on song interpretation for Marysville Jazz & Blues Weekend, on artist reflection and connection for the Midsumma Futures emerging artist program, on arts community and queer solidarity for Myriad Collective, amongst other activities and workshops.
Education: Mama Alto is a proud alumni of Monash Uni Student Theatre, and of Melbourne Youth Music's Vox ensemble under the direction of Kathryn Sadler. Her formal education specialised in musicology, art history, history, and Indigenous studies at Monash University, where she won several academic awards including the Ernst Morawetz Prize for Musicology. She also holds eternal gratitude for the ongoing mentorship and guidance of Bridgette Allen, Moira Finucane and Jackie Smith.
Solo works: Mama's self-created and self-produced cabaret performances have garnered critical praise and audience connections of deep love and empathy. Highlights of these performances include her sold out "Lady Sings The Blues: A Centenary of Billie Holiday" performances at the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2015 to commemorate one hundred years since the birth of Billie Holiday, her widely adored "Salon Series" of intimate tea parlour shows at Carlton's Porcelain tea rooms throughout 2016, the landmark event "Exquisite: An Evening with Mama Alto" presented at the National Theatre Melbourne in 2017, and her near cult status jazz and cabaret lounge sessions at treasured local icons such as The Butterfly Club, Hares & Hyenas and Chapel off Chapel. Almost all of these projects have resulted from Mama's seven year creative partnership with jazz pianist and musical directress Miss Chief. In late 2017 and early 2018, Mama Alto toured her queer empowerment cabaret "Queerly Beloved" to Feast Festival in Adelaide, Midsumma in Melbourne, and as a premiere event at the 40th Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, whilst her ongoing cabaret work "Mama Alto: Torch Songs" was selected as a Voicebox headliner at the 2018 Festival of Voices in Hobart.
Collaborations: Mama Alto adores working in collaboration with other artists, and has been blessed to perform impromptu duets with luminaries such as Paul Capsis, and with Mary Wilson of The Supremes. Mama has also worked with Brook Andrew in the acclaimed multidisciplinary postcolonial art installation "De Anima" (2014), performed with Phillip Adams BalletLab in a piece for NGV International (2014), made guest appearances with The Boon Companions (2016) and Panti Bliss & ThisIsPopBaby's "Riot" (2018), and featured in the 2017 Malthouse Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company co-production of Declan Greene's "The Homosexuals." Mama frequently participates in variety line-ups and artists' collectives, especially those which prioritise the voices of queer and trans people of colour such as Colour Tongues, the Cocoa Butter Club, and Myriad Collective. She has been a guest performer for "Queerstories" at Giant Dwarf (Sydney) as well as the "Queerstories in the House" special edition at Sydney Opera House. Three most notable highlights amongst Mama's collaborative works are her performances with playwright and composer duo Darwent & Gray, including their original piece "The Adulteresses" which garnered 4 stars in The Age, and secondly, her proud status as an ongoing company member of legendary burlesque production house Finucane & Smith - including sold out and highly revered seasons of "Glory Box" (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Havana, Cuba in 2015; Melbourne in 2016), "The Birds" (Adelaide and Darwin in 2016), and "The Rapture" (Melbourne in 2017). Third, but not least, in 2017 she became a company member of the Melbourne Festival and Pomegranate Arts presentation of Taylor Mac's multi-award winning epic, "A 24-Decade History of Popular Music" - not only as a Dandy Minion ensemble member, but also performing several duets with Taylor Mac, as well as a celebrated solo under the musical direction of Matt Ray.
Awards: Mama Alto was the delighted recipient of the 2014 Weekly Award for Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe, the 2016 Arts Access Victoria Outstanding Access & Inclusion Award at Melbourne Fringe, and the 2017 Artist of the Year Award at the GLOBE LGBTI Awards. As part of an ensemble, she was amongst the company recipients of the 2015 CHAMACO Award for Best International Production in Cuba (with Finucane & Smith's "Glory Box") and the 2017 Best Cabaret Award at Melbourne Fringe (with Becky Lou's "Seen & Heard"). Additionally, she has been a nominee for the 2014 BankSA Best Cabaret Award at Adelaide Fringe, the 2015 Artist of the Year Award at the GLOBE LGBTI Awards, and the 2017 Best Actress in a Play in the Broadway World Sydney Awards.
Festivals: Mama's past festival credits include performances at Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, the American Songbook Festival, Antidote Festival (Sydney), Castlemaine State Festival, Darwin Festival, Feast (Adelaide), Festival of Voices (Hobart), Fringe World (Perth), Havana International Theatre Festival, Mardi Gras (Sydney), Marysville Jazz & Blues Weekend, Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Melbourne Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Midsumma, Stonnington Jazz Festival, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, and Wonderland (Brisbane).
Advocacy & Activism, Charity & Community: Mama Alto is known for her community work beyond the arts. Her incisive advocacy as a social commentator and spokesperson in the media on issues surrounding gender, race and sexuality most notably include her BBC World Service radio interview with The Cultural Frontline on marriage equality, and a video interview on culture, gender, activism and the arts with Heaps Gay which has accumulated over 18,000 views. She has spoken at protests including the prominent Melbourne community actions for Safe Schools and Equal Love, and performed for fundraising events supporting Sisters & Brothers NT, the Victorian AIDS Council, Minus18, ChillOut festival, Midsumma, Equal Love, and multiple other community causes and individual benefits. Mama has also organised and hosted fundraisers for the Melbourne Period Project and for the Yes Campaign, and performed at community events for Equinox Gender Diverse Health Centre, Trans Sydney Pride, and Minus18. On January 9th 2018, Mama Alto was honoured to perform at one of the first legal same-sex weddings in Australia for Ron van Houwelingen & Antony McManus. She presented the prestigious 2018 Molly Hadfield Social Justice Oration for the City of Darebin International Women's Day event, advocating for recognition of, and equality for, trans women.
Writer, Speaker, Educator: Mama has contributed her writing to several publications, including a chapter surveying queer people of colour in the arts for the AGMC Inc (Australian Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Intersex Queer Multicultural Council) publication "Living & Loving in Diversity," an essay on identity for the Regional Arts Victoria publication "The Cinemas Project," a chapter of the 2018 Hachette Books publication "Queerstories," and articles for The Music on Taylor Mac and Archer Magazine on queer empowerment and empathy throughout the 2017 national postal survey on marriage equality. As a speaker, Mama has co-presented a paper on the radical possibilities of, and parallels between, the archives and the cabaret with Dr Sue McKemmish at the 2017 Monash Prato Centre CIRN (Community Informatics Research Network) conference, "Art and Archive: Art as Archive, Archive as Art," and spoken on intersections of trans and person of colour identities in panel discussions for many organisations including the 2018 Better Together conference, the Victorian Public Sector Pride Network's 2017 IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex Discriminations & Transphobia) event, for the Victorian AIDS Council's 2016 screening of "Major! A New Documentary Film." As an educator, she has facilitated and taught workshops on cabaret for Maude Davey's "Intimate Acts" unit at the VCA (Victorian College of the Arts), on song interpretation for Marysville Jazz & Blues Weekend, on artist reflection and connection for the Midsumma Futures emerging artist program, on arts community and queer solidarity for Myriad Collective, amongst other activities and workshops.
Education: Mama Alto is a proud alumni of Monash Uni Student Theatre, and of Melbourne Youth Music's Vox ensemble under the direction of Kathryn Sadler. Her formal education specialised in musicology, art history, history, and Indigenous studies at Monash University, where she won several academic awards including the Ernst Morawetz Prize for Musicology. She also holds eternal gratitude for the ongoing mentorship and guidance of Bridgette Allen, Moira Finucane and Jackie Smith.