Mara Kiek voice and percussion Llew Kiek bouzouki, baglama, acoustic and electric guitars, vocals Steve Elphick double bass Sandy Evans tenor and soprano saxophones Tony Gorman alto saxophone, clarinet Over more than two decades, Mara! have developed a unique musical style which fuses folk roots with modern jazz expressionism, adding influences from rock to early music, while journeying through Anglo-Celtic, middle Eastern, Balkan and Mediterranean traditions. Nowadays Mara! perform many original works which are a musical mirror where these flavours find their dazzling reflection. Fronted by the remarkable and magnetic voice of Mara Kiek, Mara! have brought their virtuosic concert performances to audiences in 21 countries. Mara! have also undertaken a wide range of performance projects including their 1997 album of original music ‘Sezoni’ (Real World Records) where they recorded with the 25 voice Bulgarian/Australian Choir “Martenitsa” producing a lush musical feast. In 2000 they performed a 10-night season of the aerial spectacular “Homeland” with death-defying acrobats “Legs on the Wall” for the Sydney Olympics – and again at the Berlin LiteraturWERKstat Festival in 2003. In 2001 Mara! collaborated with the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir in Brisbane to perform Mara Kiek’s magnificent “Neizvestnoto” . In 2004 Mara! and Martenitsa premiered and broadcast their new suite of original music in Italian “Tra Parole E Silenzio” at Fox Studios in Sydney… Mara!’s musicians are among the most highly regarded world and jazz players in Australia. Together in Mara! they create one of Australia’s most exciting, innovative and uplifting ensembles. Australian Recording Industry Awards (ARIAs) “Sorella” 2006 (Nominee), Recorded Sony Studios, Sydney “Live in Europe” 2001 (Winner), recorded European Broadcasting Union Festival, Czech Republic. "Ruino Vino" 1996 (Winner), recorded ABC studios , Sydney "Sezoni" 1997 (Nominee), with the Martenitsa choir, released by Real World Records in 1999.