Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard
Background information
Birth name	Lisa Gerrard
Born	(1961-04-12) 12 April 1961
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Neoclassical dark wave, new-age, ethereal wave, gothic rock
Occupation(s)	Composer singer musician
Instruments	Vocals, accordion, keyboards, yangqin, dulcimer, guitar
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Gerrard Records
Associated acts	Dead Can Dance
Website	www.lisagerrard.com

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

Since her career began in 1981, Gerrard has been involved in a wide range of projects. She received a Golden Globe Award for the music score to the film Gladiator, on which she collaborated with Hans Zimmer on such songs as "Now We Are Free." With respect to such work she has said, "I sing in the language of the Heart. It's an invented language that I've had for a very long time. I believe I started singing in it when I was about 12. Roughly that time. And I believed that I was speaking to God when I sang in that language."^[1]

In addition to singing, she is an instrumentalist for much of her work, most prolifically using the yangqin (a Chinese hammered dulcimer).

Early life

Lisa Gerrard was born on 12 April 1961 in Melbourne and grew up in the suburb of Prahran with her Irish immigrant parents. Speaking about her upbringing she has said that 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 works.^[2]

Gerrard's first foray into forming bands and creative music-making was the highly experimental Little band scene. It was at one of these little band events that she first met Dead Can Dance co-founder Brendan Perry. Perry recalls, "It never occurred to me that we would one day collaborate musically together because at the time I thought her music was too avant garde. I particularly remember one song that she sang about finding a man in the park and asking her mother if she could bring him home to keep in her wardrobe as she attacked this chinese dulcimer with two bamboo sticks".^[3]

Career

Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance originally formed as a quartet in 1981 in Melbourne, but in 1982 moved to London with members Gerrard, Brendan Perry 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 self-entitled Dead Can Dance LP in 1984. The song "Nierika" became part of the opening titles for Mexican television station TV Azteca's soap opera "La Chacala". The band split in 1998, but reunited in 2005 for a world tour. In 2012, the band announced a new world tour to coincide with the release of their new album, Anastasis.

Solo and collaborative career

	"Now We Are Free" (2000) 30-second extract from "Now We Are Free" by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Theme from Gladiator.
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In 1995, Gerrard recorded and released her first solo album, The Mirror Pool. After the release of this album, she continued to work with Dead Can Dance, releasing the album, Spiritchaser, in 1996. Following this, in 1998 she recorded Duality in collaboration with Pieter Bourke. This album would mark the beginning of an extensive collaboration for a number of film scores, including The Insider and Ali. Gerrard began a new collaboration with Patrick Cassidy in 2004 with the release of Immortal Memory. Again, this collaboration was furthered in film work, including Salem's Lot.

The following year in 2005, Gerrard contributed to the Ashes and Snow Soundtrack. For the songs "Womb" and "Wisdom", she and Patrick Cassidy wrote and performed together. Her collaboration with Cassidy extended to include work with conductor Julie Rogers on the songs "Devota" and "Vespers".

In 2006, Sanctuary, a documentary about the life and work of Gerrard, was recorded and released in September. It is the work of producer and director Clive Collier and features extensive interviews with Gerrard and various people who have collaborated with her in the past, including Michael Mann, Russell Crowe, Hans Zimmer and Niki Caro. The documentary was released on DVD by Milan Entertainment on 24 April 2007.

Also in 2006, Gerrard released her second solo album, The Silver Tree. This album was markedly different from her previous work and was also her first album released outside of 4AD Records. 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. In 2007 a retrospective album The Best of Lisa Gerrard, a compilation of fifteen songs, was released covering her career in Dead Can Dance, solo work, and film work.

A world tour was undertaken in 2007 beginning in April in Melbourne, Australia. This tour marked the first time Lisa Gerrard had toured in Australia, with a performance in three cities. The tour was followed by performances in Europe and North America. More performances took place in Europe and Russia from 30 October to 22 November 2007.^[4] In November 2007, Gerrard collaborated with German electronic musician Klaus Schulze on the double-album Farscape. The album was released 27 July 2008 and was followed by a European tour.

In 2009, Gerrard completed work on the documentary by Australian adventurer Tim Cope called On the Trail of Genghis Khan^[5] and contributed her voice to the soundtrack, which began airing in 2010, of the Japanese NHK taiga drama Ryōmaden, a story based on the life of Sakamoto Ryoma. Also in 2009, Gerrard created her own record label, Gerrard Records, which, aside from being a conduit for the release of Gerrard's future works, will also act to promote and support unrecognised artists of all genres. In September 2009, Gerrard and Klaus Schulze performed another tour in six European cities – Warsaw, Berlin, Amsterdam, Essen, Paris, and Brussels. This tour coincided with the release of Come Quietly, a joint project between Gerrard and Schulze that was released during the tour.

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.

In 2010, Gerrard released a new album with fellow composer Marcello De Francisci titled "Departum" from Gerrard Records which was followed by the release of three new singles; "Coming Home" – as featured in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, "Entry" and "Come This Way".

Gerrard also collaborated with Prash Mistry from "Engine Earz Experiment" on a track titled "Spirit Guide" which will appear on his upcoming album in 2011.

On 1 December 2010, Gerrard capped off a busy 2010 with the release of a new soundtrack album with Cye Wood titled The Trail of Genghis Khan which contains music from the Gerrard and Wood score to the documentary TV series by Australian adventurer Tim Cope.

In July 2014, Gerrard released a new solo album entitled Twilight Kingdom through her own record label, Gerrard Records.

Film career

Gerrard's first experience in composing music for a film came with the 1989 Spanish film El Niño de la Luna, directed by Agustí 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 David, a young orphan with special powers, escaping an institution with the help of a fellow institute inmate, Georgina, played by Lisa Gerrard.

Gerrard participated in a number of musical 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 Zimmer was nominated. It did, however, win a Golden Globe Award for both composers. Gerrard's score for the New Zealand independent film Whale Rider consisted entirely of solo material; a soundtrack album was released by 4AD.

In 2005 Gerrard collaborated with Ennio Morricone for Fateless followed by a collaboration with Jeff Rona on the score for the feature film "A Thousand Roads" and the song On an Ocean for the Henry Poole Is Here score. Gerrard along with Dead Can Dance also provided several contributions to the soundtrack of Baraka, a visual journey showcasing mankind's impact on our planet. Gerrard 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 film Black Hawk Down.

In 2009 Gerrard wrote the score for Balibo, for which she won a Best Feature Film Score award 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 Japanese NHK taiga drama Ryōmaden, which began airing in 2010.

In 2010 Gerrard completed the score for "Tears of Gaza" with Marcello De Francisci which was well received despite its controversial theme.^[6] Gerrard also scored the Jim Loach directed Oranges and Sunshine starring Emily Watson and Hugo Weaving released in April 2011 which garnered her with another nomination at the 2011 IF Awards for Best Music Score.

In November 2010 Gerrard provided vocals and additional music for the post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Priest scored by Christopher Young which was released in 2011.

In November 2011 Gerrard completed the score for Burning Man which won her Best Music Score at the 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia awards announced on 10 April 2012, beating scores for Snowtown, The Hunter and Red Dog.

Vocal ability

Gerrard possesses the vocal range of a contralto.^[7] Her voice has been described as rich, deep, dark, mournful and unique.^[8][9][10]

She also has the ability to extend upwards into the dramatic mezzo-soprano range, examples of such would be on the songs "The Host of Seraphim", "Elegy", "Space Weaver", "Come This Way" and "One Perfect Sunrise".^[11][12] Gerrard however performs more predominantly in the dramatic contralto range in her other songs, "Sanvean", "Sacrifice", "Largo" and "Not Yet".^{[13][14][15][16]}

Gerrard sings many of her songs, such as "Now We Are Free", "Come Tenderness", "Serenity", "The Valley of the Moon", "Tempest", "Pilgrimage of Lost Children", "Coming Home" and "Sanvean" in idioglossia.

Personal life

Gerrard has two children.^[17] She is married to a Polish graphic design artist and music producer, Jacek Tuschewski, with whom she has a daughter (born 1992). Her nephew, Jack Gerrard, plays for Cairns' post-hardcore act Almost a Square as the drummer and back-up vocalist.

Discography

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 and re-released in 2010 by Gerrard Records
  • The Best of Lisa Gerrard (2007)
  • The Black Opal (2009) released by Gerrard Records
  • Twilight Kingdom (2014) 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)
  • Coming Home (2010) released by Gerrard Records
  • Entry (2010) released by Gerrard Records
  • Come This Way (2010) released by Gerrard Records
  • Seven Seas (2014) released by Gerrard Records

• Collaboration albums
  • Duality (1998), with Pieter Bourke
  • Immortal Memory (2004), with Patrick Cassidy
  • Ashes and Snow (2006) with Patrick Cassidy
  • Farscape (2008) with Klaus Schulze
  • Rheingold (2008) with Klaus Schulze
  • Dziękuję Bardzo (2009) with Klaus Schulze
  • "Come Quietly" (2009) with Klaus Schulze
  • Departum (2010) with Marcello De Francisci
  • The Trail of Genghis Khan (2010) with Cye Wood

• Miscellaneous

• • Microfilm: 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)
  • Guest performer for the industrial/electronic music group Delerium entitled "Forgotten Worlds" on the album, Karma (1997)
  • "The Wings of a Film – The Music of Hans Zimmer" ("Now We Are Free" live)
  • 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 exhibition 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)
  • "The Storm", song in collaboration with Hungarian composer Balázs Havasi on the album Symphonic II (2013)
  • "Lament" and "Epitaph", collaboration with Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner on the album Diaries of Hope (2013)

Movie score composing and contributions

• Dèmoni 2 (1986) (as Dead Can Dance)
• El Niño de la Luna (1989) (as Dead Can Dance, also with 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: Soundtrack (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 Hans Zimmer
• Whale Rider (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) with Harry Gregson-Williams
• '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)
• Ichi (2008) with Michael Edwards
• Henry Poole Is Here (2008)
• Balibo (2009)
• Ryomaden (2010) Theme Song to TV Series
• From Ararat to Zion (2010) with Ara Torosyan
• Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010) -"The Host of the Seraphim" (DCD) and "Coming Home" (solo).
• Oranges and Sunshine (2010)
• Tears of Gaza (2010)
• Samsara (sequel to Baraka) composer of original music, with Michael Stearns and Marcello De Francisci
• Priest – vocals and additional music
• Rurouni Kenshin (2012)
• Man of Steel (2012) – trailer: "Elegy"
• I, Frankenstein (2013)
• The Bible (2013) with Hans Zimmer
• Son of God (2014) with Hans Zimmer

Video game composing and contributions

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011)
• Armello (2015) with Michael Allen^[18]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Lisa Gerrard

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lisa Gerrard.

• Lisa Gerrard: Official Site
• Lisa Gerrard at the Internet Movie Database
• Lisa Gerrard discography at MusicBrainz
• Gerrard, Lisa (1961 – ) in The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia

Dead Can Dance Lisa Gerrard Brendan Perry Paul Erikson Simon Monroe James Pinker Scott Rodger Peter Ulrich Albums Dead Can Dance Spleen and Ideal Within the Realm of a Dying Sun The Serpent's Egg Aion Into the Labyrinth Spiritchaser Anastasis Compilations A Passage in Time Dead Can Dance (1981–1998) Wake Memento Live albums Toward the Within In Concert Extended plays Garden of the Arcane Delights Related articles Discography 4AD Records PIAS Recordings

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Composer John Williams (1998) Gabriel Yared (1999) Lisa Gerrard / Hans Zimmer (2000) Howard Shore (2001) John Williams (2002) Howard Shore (2003) Howard Shore (2004) John Williams (2005) Philip Glass (2006) Jonny Greenwood (2007) A. R. Rahman (2008) Michael Giacchino (2009) Trent Reznor / Atticus Ross (2010) Ludovic Bource (2011) John Williams (2012) Steven Price (2013) Antonio Sánchez (2014)

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score 1947–1975 Life with Father - Max Steiner (1947) The Red Shoes - Brian Easdale (1948) The Inspector General - Johnny Green (1949) Sunset Boulevard - Franz Waxman (1950) September Affair - Victor Young (1951) High Noon - Dimitri Tiomkin (1952) On the Beach - Ernest Gold (1959) The Alamo - Dimitri Tiomkin (1960) The Guns of Navarone - Dimitri Tiomkin (1961) To Kill a Mockingbird - Elmer Bernstein (1962) (1963) The Fall of the Roman Empire - Dimitri Tiomkin (1964) Doctor Zhivago - Maurice Jarre (1965) Hawaii - Elmer Bernstein (1966) Camelot - Frederick Loewe (1967) The Shoes of the Fisherman - Alex North (1968) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Burt Bacharach (1969) Love Story - Francis Lai (1970) Shaft - Isaac Hayes (1971) The Godfather - Nino Rota (1972) Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Neil Diamond (1973) The Little Prince - Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe (1974) Jaws - John Williams (1975) 1975–2000 A Star is Born - Kenneth Ascher, Paul Williams (1976) Star Wars - John Williams (1977) Midnight Express - Giorgio Moroder (1978) Apocalypse Now - Carmine Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola (1979) The Stunt Man - Dominic Frontiere (1980) (1981) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - John Williams (1982) Flashdance - Giorgio Moroder (1983) A Passage to India - Maurice Jarre (1984) Out of Africa - John Barry (1985) The Mission - Ennio Morricone (1986) The Last Emperor - David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cong Su (1987) Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey - Maurice Jarre (1988) The Little Mermaid - Alan Menken (1989) The Sheltering Sky - Richard Horowitz, Ryuichi Sakamoto (1990) Beauty and the Beast - Alan Menken (1991) Aladdin - Alan Menken (1992) Heaven & Earth - Kitarō (1993) The Lion King - Hans Zimmer (1994) A Walk in the Clouds - Maurice Jarre (1995) The English Patient - Gabriel Yared (1996) Titanic - James Horner (1997) The Truman Show - Burkhard Dallwitz, Philip Glass (1998) The Legend of 1900 - Ennio Morricone (1999) Gladiator - Lisa Gerrard, Hans Zimmer (2000) 2001–present Moulin Rouge! - Craig Armstrong (2001) Frida - Elliot Goldenthal (2002) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Howard Shore (2003) The Aviator - Howard Shore (2004) Memoirs of a Geisha - John Williams (2005) The Painted Veil - Alexandre Desplat (2006) Atonement - Dario Marianelli (2007) Slumdog Millionaire - A. R. Rahman (2008) Up - Michael Giacchino (2009) The Social Network – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (2010) The Artist – Ludovic Bource (2011) Life of Pi – Mychael Danna (2012) All Is Lost – Alex Ebert (2013) The Theory of Everything – Jóhann Jóhannsson (2014)