Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard (born April 12, 1961) is an Irish-Australian musician, singer and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry.

Her career began in 1981 and she has been involved in a wide range of projects. Gerrard received a Golden Globe Award for the music score for film Gladiator, on which she collaborated with Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt. She also sings and is an instrumentalist for much of her work, most prolifically using the yangqin (a Chinese hammered dulcimer).

Early life

Born April 12, 1961 in Melbourne, Lisa Gerrard grew up in the then Greek-Turkish 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 work.

Career

Dead Can Dance

Main article: Dead Can Dance

Dead 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 LP, Dead Can Dance. The band split in 1998, but reunited in 2005 for a world tour.

Solo and collaborative career

In 1995, she recorded and released her first solo album, titled 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 in collaboration with Pieter Bourke. This would mark an extensive collaboration together for a number of film scores, including The Insider and Ali. Gerrard began a new collaboration with Patrick Cassidy in 2004, marked by the release of Immortal Memory. Again, this collaboration was furthered in film work, including Salem's Lot.

In 2006, 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, Russell Crowe, Hans Zimmer and Niki Caro. It was released on DVD by Milan Entertainment on April 24, 2007.

In the same year, Lisa Gerrard released her second solo album, titled The Silver Tree. This album was markedly different from her previous work and was also her first album released outside of 4AD. 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, entitled The Best of Lisa Gerrard, was released covering her career in Dead Can Dance, solo work and film work. A total of 15 songs were compiled.

A world tour was undertaken in 2007 beginning in April in Melbourne, Australia. This tour marked the first time Lisa Gerrard has toured in Australia, with a performance in three cities. This tour was followed by performances in Europe and North America. More performances took place in Europe and Russia from October 30 to November 22, 2007.

In November 2007, Lisa Gerrard collaborated with German electronic musician Klaus Schulze on the double-album Farscape. The album was released July 27, 2008 and followed with a European tour.

In 2009, Lisa Gerrard completed work on the documentary by Australian adventurer Tim Cope called On The Trail of Ghengis Khan and contributed her voice to the soundtrack of the Japanese NHK taiga drama Ryōmaden which will air in 2010 and is 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 Lisa's future works will also act to promote and support unrecognised artists of all genres.

In September 2009, Lisa Gerrard and Klaus Schulze performed another Tour in 6 European cities - Warsaw, Berlin, Amsterdam, Essen, Paris and Brussels. This coincided with the release of "Come Quietly", a joint project between Lisa and Klaus which 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, Patrick Cassidy, Pieter Bourke and James Orr and was the first release to come from Gerrard Records.

Sanctuary: Lisa Gerrard A Portrait by Clive Collier

Vocal style

Lisa Gerrard is considered a contralto vocalist. Her vocals have been variously described as rich, jaw-dropping, unique, deep, dark and mournful. Her range spans from contralto to mezzo-soprano on such songs as The Host of Seraphim, Elegy and Space Weaver. On the other songs Sanvean and Sacrifice, Gerrard performs in the deep contralto range.

Gerrard sings many of her songs, such as Now We Are Free and Sanvean in a language of her own invention that she has developed since the age of twelve.

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 a young orphan with special powers, David, escaping an institution with the help of a fellow institute inmate, Georgina, played by Lisa Gerrard.

Gerrard participated in a number of scores but came to fame as a film composer after recording The Insider in 1999, with Pieter Bourke, and Gladiator in 2000, with Hans Zimmer, which received an Academy Award nomination for best music score, although only Hans Zimmer was nominated.

In 2005, she collaborated with Ennio Morricone for Fateless followed by On an Ocean for the Henry Poole Is Here score, with Jeff Rona. Lisa (along with Dead Can Dance) also did a number of contributions to the soundtrack of Baraka, a visual journey showcasing mankind's impact on our planet.

She 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 Black Hawk Down.

In 2009, Lisa Gerrard wrote the score for Balibo which gaves her wins for Best Feature Film Score at the 2009 APRA Screen Music Awards and an Aria Award for Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album at the 2009 Aria Awards.

Gerrard finished 2009 by contributing her voice to the theme song for the Japan NHK Taiga Drama Ryomaden which began airing in 2010.

Discography

Dead Can Dance

Further information: Dead Can Dance

Career after Dead Can Dance

• Solo Albums
  • The Mirror Pool (1995)
  • The Silver Tree (2006), release on iTunes and by Rubber Records
  • The Best of Lisa Gerrard (2007)
  • The Black Opal (2009) released by Gerrard Records

• Singles
  • "Sanvean" (1995)
  • "The Human Game" (with Pieter Bourke, 1998)
  • "Abwoon" (with Patrick Cassidy, 2003)
  • "Hommage A Polska. 17 września" (with Klaus Schulze, 2009)

• Collaborations
  • Duality (1998), with Pieter Bourke
  • Immortal Memory (2004), with Patrick Cassidy
  • Ashes and Snow (2006) with Patrick Cassidy
  • Farscape (2008) with Klaus Schulze
  • "Come Quietly" (2009) with Klaus Schulze

• 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" (1992)
  • French promo CD-single "La bas" and "Lament"
  • Compilation entitled "These Wings without Feathers" ("Dreamsong" and "Untitled") (1996)
  • "The Wings of a Film - The Music of Hans Zimmer" ("Now We Are Free" live)
  • The Insider (Music from the Motion Picture) (1999), with Pieter Bourke
  • With Orbital: "One Perfect Sunrise" on the 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 exhibit by Gregory Colbert, (with 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 (2009)

Movie score composing/contribution

Live at the Forum, Melbourne, Monday 2 April 2007.

• 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 (1992) (as Dead Can Dance, with Michael Stearns)
• Heat (1995) featured previously recorded material from The Mirror Pool
• Nadro (1998)
• The 13th Warrior (1999) with Graeme Revell (score later withdrawn)
• The Insider (1999) with Pieter Bourke
• Gladiator (2000) with Hans Zimmer
• Gladiator: More Music From the Motion Picture (2000, released 2001) with Hans Zimmer
• Mission: Impossible II (2000) with Hans Zimmer
• Black Hawk Down (2001) - Song: "J'attends - Gortoz A Ran" with Denez Prigent
• Ali (2001) with Pieter Bourke
• 9/11 (2002) - Song: "Sorrow" composed with Klaus Badelt
• Whalerider (Original Soundtrack) (2003)
• Tears of the Sun (2003) with Hans Zimmer
• The West Wing (Television) (2003) - Song: "Sanvean" in the episode 7A WF 83429
• 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) vocals for the Harry Gregson-Williams score
• 'Salem's Lot (TV mini-series) (2004) with Patrick Cassidy and Christopher Gordon
• Layer Cake (2004)
• A Thousand Roads (2005) with Jeff Rona
• Constantine (2005) (score incomplete and withdrawn)
• 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 (2007) (The Host of Seraphim)
• Playing for Charlie (2008)
• Balibo (2009)
• Ryomaden (2010) Theme Song to TV Series

External links

• Lisa Gerrard: Official Site
• Lisa Gerrard: Official Online Store
• Dead Can Dance Library
• Dead-can-dance.com (Dead Can Dance Italian site)
• Dead Can Dance Discography
• Dead Can Dance interviews from the Echoes public radio show
• Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke interview from the Ultima Thule Ambient Music radio show
• Lisa Gerrard MySpace Page
• popmatters.com
• discogs.com
• 4ad.com
• chicagomusicguide.com
• milanrecords.com
• Template:Amg
• Maddox, Garry (2005) "Gerrard's scores are on the board" in smh.com.au
• Sanctuary: Lisa Gerrard - A Portrait by Clive Collier Official Film Site