Hand To Earth Trio, Haruka Fujii & Nguyễn Thanh Thủy

Multi-percussionist Haruka Fujii has become one of the most prominent solo percussionists and marimbists of her generation. She has won international acclaim for her interpretations of contemporary music, having performed numerous premieres of works from luminary composers.  Since 2010 Ms. Fujii has performed as an artist of the Grammy Award winning Silkroad Ensemble, joining a group of international musicians founded by Yo-Yo Ma and serves as the Associate Artistic Director alongside with the new artistic director Rhiannon Giddens. 

Ms. Fujii’s passion for introducing audiences to new percussion music has put her on stage with diverse orchestras and ensembles. She has appeared as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Nationale de Lyon, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and Line C3 Percussion Group, also Utari Percussion Duo, a duet project with her sister Rika which actively commissions new compositions from young composers. In addition to her career as a performing artist, Ms. Fujii is a faculty member of San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and has been a frequent guest instructor at Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar and several international percussion festivals. She is also a founder and creative director of a nonprofit organization Nippon Kobo, a new cultural event series introducing Music+Culture from contemporary Japan.

Nguyễn Thanh Thủy is a leading đàn tranh player/improviser in both traditional and experimental music. She was born into a theatre family and was raised with traditional Vietnamese music from an early age in Hà Nội. She studied at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music where she received her diploma in 1998, followed by a Master of Arts at the Institute of Cultural Studies in 2003. Since 2000 she holds a teaching position at the Vietnam National Academy of Music. She has toured in Asia, Europe and the USA. She has received many distinctions including the First Prize and the Outstanding Traditional Music Performer Prize in the National Competition of Zither Talents in 1998. Nguyễn Thanh Thủy has recorded several CD’s as soloist with orchestra and solo CDs, which were released by Phương Nam Film Vietnam; by dB Productions Sweden; by Setola di Maiale Italia and by Neuma Records & Publications USA. She collaborates with composers such as Richard Karpen (US), Kent Olofsson (SE), Nguyễn Thiện Đạo (FR/VN) and Trần Thị Kim Ngọc (VN). 

Daniel Wilfred is a Wagiläk man from Ngukurr, in remote Northern Australia. He was born in Nhulunbuy, skin name, Wamut. He’s a ceremonial leader for the Wagiläk people, singing Manikay and playing bilma at ceremonies in Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Groote Eylandt and surrounding areas. He co-leads celebrated Australian quintet, Hand to Earth, with Sunny Kim, and Peter Knight, and together with his brother David Wilfred has been collaborating and touring for almost 15 years, sharing his songs and culture with people around the world. Recently he has performed with Hand to Earth at venues and festivals including Lincoln Centre (NYC), Pierre Boulez Seal (Berlin) Jazztopad Festival Poland, Bimhuis (Netherlands), Vancouver Jazz Festival, and Jeonju Sori Festival (Korea). Daniel is also a regular performer with the Australian Art Orchestra and was the recipient of the 2019 Arts Fellowship by the Northern Territory. Together with David, he was also awarded the NT Luminary Award for ‘cultural leadership’ at the 2020 Art Music Awards. 

Photo by Sarah Walker 

Sunny Kim is a Korean-born vocalist, improvisor, composer and educator based in Australia. Drawing inspiration from her life journey as a global nomad - Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Denver, Boston, New York and now Melbourne - Sunny is a two-time winner of Jazz People Magazine's Reader's Poll Award in the Best Vocalist category (2012, 2013) and the recipient of the LIG Artist grant (2011), Sunny has released five albums as a leader and has also recorded as a featured vocalist on numerous records such as After Dark (Prana Trio, 2005), White With Foam (MadLove, 2009), and Keep Your Heart Right (Roswell Rudd Quartet, 2007), and founded Hand to Earth with Peter Knight and Daniel Wilfred during an Australian Art Orchestra residency in 2018. As an educator, she has facilitated hundreds of developing musicians from diverse backgrounds to find their creative voice through cultivation of intuition, body awareness and collaborative skills. A former Assistant Professor at Dong-Ah Institute for Media and Arts, Sunny currently lectures at the University of Melbourne in Jazz and Improvisation. Invited by the Australian Music Centre, Sunny delivered the Peggy Glanville-Hicks address in 2020.

Photo by Sarah Walker

Perpetually curious, Peter Knight’s practice exists in the spaces between categories, between genres and between cultures. From 2013-23 Peter was the Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra, for which he commissioned over 100 compositions and collaborations from a diverse range of international and Australian artists including Nicole Lizée, Alvin Lucier, Anthony Braxton, Hyelim Kim, and Senyawa. He also composed for, and performed in the company, presenting his works at international festivals and venues in more than a dozen countries winning awards including four AMC Art Music Awards, the Albert H Maggs Composition Prize, and numerous ARIA nominations. Peter has maintained an active solo career developing an international reputation as an innovator who is extending the possibilities of his instrument with approaches that interweave acoustic and electronics. His latest solo release, Shadow Phase, is out on the ROOM40 label, described by Headphone Commute as, "a carefully curated exercise in reflective restraint, dreamy atmospherics, ebbing dynamics.” He holds a doctorate from Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and was named its Alumnus of the Year in 2013. 

Photo by Sarah Walker