biog
Diverse, contemporary, passionate, groundbreaking, eclectic…
Cathie Travers [b. 1959] has worked as a rock musician, holds a B.Mus [Hons] from the University of WA, studied with leading classical & avant-garde pianists in the UK & USA, has performed with and composed for many Australian orchestras and concert artists, appeared as session muso on albums ranging from the avant-garde classical scene, through latin-jazz to celtic-influenced folk, composed for and performed live with several dance-theatre companies, MD’d for music-theatre productions, leads a Nuevo-tango quartet, and is currently working on a long-term project fusing karnatic music with accordion, guitar and digital music-making techniques.
Travers has developed an impressive reputation as both performer and composer. Her work has been featured at major Australian arts festivals [Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Adelaide, Fairbridge and Mardi Gras] and internationally at concerts in Canada, the USA, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan, and been included in the programming of many Australian and international TV & radio broadcasters. Choreographers and film-makers alike have made use of her extant concert works.
As a composer, performer and arranger Travers has received numerous awards and commissions, allowing her to explore music, theatre and dance from many ethnicities, electronic and electro-acoustic forms, jazz, classical, tango, gypsy, folk, rock and assorted experimental techniques. Her [professional] creative journey spans thirty four years; the seeds for Travers’ wandering across musical boundaries can be found in her Op.1 In Search of the Gods: a fusion of quasi-folk voice & guitar with Rick Wakeman-influenced symphonic rock…keyboards, rock-band and small choir textures…awarded first prize by the national broadcaster ABC, in the 1975 Young Peoples Workshop.
Working variously as guitarist, vocalist, pianist and keyboardist over the years, Travers instrument of choice since 2002 is piano accordion.
Cathie Travers' music embraces the gamut of hard-edged contemporary pungency to sweetness, nostalgia, and up-beat extrovert wit.
Jill Sykes, Sydney Morning Herald
It’s fascinating material, in turn skittish and darkly moody – all of it made memorable by the trademark expressiveness that informs every note that Travers plays.
Neville Cohn, The West Australian
Some of the artists Travers has worked with:
