Dear Listeners,

A few days ago we hosted another “Tall Poppies Talk” Australian Salon in Berlin. This time the focus was on the work of the Newcastle (NSW) born dancer, choreographer and educator Rhys Martin.

In the course of the evening, Rhys recalled a few highlights from his phenomenal career, which spans four decades and includes performances with Sydney’s pioneering underground company, “One Extra Dance,” and Reinhild Hoffman’s dance theatre ensemble. Besides being a dancer he has worked as a producer, director and choreographer of dance, opera, film and theatre with diverse ensembles such as the Leipzig and Montpellier opera, Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theatre and the Berliner Ensemble.

You can hear the full episode of Tall Poppies, The Podcast featuring Rhys here:

http://tall-poppies.com/podcast/dance/9-rhys-martin-dancer-and-choreographer/

Our next guest on the podcast is the Australian trombonist and composer, Shannon Barnett. Shannon was named Young Australian Jazz Artists of the Year in 2007 and her multi-faceted career has seen her perform with top ensembles all over Australia, in the United States and Germany. She was a multi-instrumentalist and composer with the Circus Oz group, and was recently appointed Professor for Jazz Trombone at the Hochschuler für Musik und Tanz in Cologne.

Over the next weeks I will be delving into my archives to present a few Tall Poppies Postcards. These will feature shorter interviews with renowned Australians I’ve met over the years, who include Oscar-winning animation writer and director

Adam Elliott, legendary opera singer Joan Sutherland, and the great Aussie poet, Robert Grey.