Ophelia of the Spirits

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The great playwright William Shakespeare once said, “All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts.”



Each of us inhabits many different characters over the course of a lifetime, weaving a delicate web of stories and half-told truths, treading a precarious path somewhere between the real and the imagined. Ophelia of the Spirits' creator - singer, composer & pianist Angela Little - stepped into the warm glow of the footlights with the release of her debut EP in 2008, which received airplay on Triple J, ABC, and community radio stations around Australia.



The name Ophelia of the Spirits derives from a marriage of characters from the works of Shakespeare and Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. In the Shakespearian tragedy Hamlet, Lady Ophelia, Hamlet’s love, falls to her death from the branches of a weeping willow tree. She is found drowned in the river below, surrounded by flowers she had been weaving into garlands before she fell. Fellini’s 1965 film ‘Giulietta degli Spiriti’ (Juliet of the Spirits) tells the story of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage who begins a process of spiritual awakening, experiencing unsettling surrealist visions; a reborn Alice in Wonderland following her subconscious further and further down the rabbit hole. It was this dramatic sense of character and storytelling inspiring her music which immediately set Angela apart from the usual singer/songwriter fare and established her as a vibrant new presence on the Australian music scene.



Angela's early success with her self-titled Ophelia of the Spirits EP was followed in November 2008 by the news that she was the co-writer and singer of the major love song from Baz Luhrmann’s epic film “Australia”, “By The Boab Tree,” which she performed for the end credits of the film. She also sang an epic Celtic version of 'Waltzing Matilda' for the film, which inspired her new project for 2010, 'Celtic Fire'. These tracks from the movie are now available on iTunes worldwide on the "Australia (Music from the Movie) Soundtrack Album".



Since then, Angela has composed and sung on the soundtrack for another upcoming Australian feature film, The Clinic, as well as releasing her sophomore collection of original songs, 'The Secret Garden', in September 2009.



This year, she was awarded a Jump Grant by the JB Seed for her album release, as well as being shortlisted for a prestigious APRA Professional Development Award (which recognises and develops outstanding young Australian musical talent) in the area of Composition for Film & Television, and nominated for several industry awards for her work on 'Australia', including an AFI Award for Best Original Score, and two APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards for Best Original Song ('By The Boab Tree') and Contribution to Best Soundtrack Album.



Seeing both her film work and her live performances as an opportunity to engage in storytelling through music and vision, Angela is constantly striving to transcend the perceived barriers between different artforms - deriving from film, theatre, and visual art, her inspiration is underpinned by the belief that all artforms are by nature intertwined.



Angela's new live show for 2010, Celtic Fire, is an epic musical tale based on ancient Celtic mythology. Featuring cinematic sounscapes, tribal beats, and deep ambient sounds combined with the live power of electric violin and stirring bodhran, Angela's live shows fuse elements of music, sound and vision to take the audience on a journey rarely experienced.



OPHELIA OF THE SPIRITS PRESENTS CELTIC FIRE

COMING IN 2010



OPHELIA OF THE SPIRITS - "A PRETTY PIECE"

LIVE @ THE BASEMENT



OPHELIA OF THE SPIRITS - "GREEDY"

PRELUDE: EXCERPT FROM "MOONLIGHT SONATA"

LIVE @ THE BASEMENT



"HOUSE OF CARDS"

FEATURING AN EXCERPT FROM GW PABST'S 'PANDORA'S BOX'



OPHELIA OF THE SPIRITS @ THE BASEMENT



Photography by Smurfun & Ben Walker



OPHELIA OF THE SPIRITS EP LAUNCH @ THE VANGUARD



Photography by Dean Hammer