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Cicilia Kemezys

[From: https://music.cass.anu.edu.au/people/cicilia-kemezys] Australian flautist/vocalist/composer Cicilia Kemezys has been performing in a variety of genres from jazz, Latin through to Indian music since she graduated from the Canberra School of Music Jazz course in 1991. In the 1990s she performed in the popular Celtic Jazz group Straight Ahead as well as the Indian world music group Dya Singh. She went on many tours throughout Australia and internationally, taking her to jazz, folk and other festivals throughout Asia, Europe and Canada. In 1997, she toured France and Spain with an Australian indigenous dance group as part of the Folkloric Festival de Pyrenees. In 1998 she received a Canberra critics award as a member of Straight Ahead. In the late 90’s, she turned to her long time love of Brazilian music, forming a Brazilian jazz trio jazz guitarist Stephen J Scott. This led to performances at the Brazilian Embassy in Canberra and in Brazil, performing and teaching jazz flute workshops in the northern state of Alagoas. In Rio de Janeiro she recorded an album Espirito Do Brasil with local Brazilian musicians followed by performances at the Thredbo Jazz Festival and Sydney’s Manly International Jazz Festival. In 2001, Cicilia travelled to the Middle East to work as a music teacher and later as a resident musician in several five star Hotels in Bahrain and Kuwait. In the mid 2000’s, Cicilia began performing with Alma Latin Voices and Rhythms directed by Chilean-Australian Marisol Pacheco. The choir performed in Cuba in 2005 at the annual Festival de Santiago. Most recently, Cicilia Kemezys has been living in Canberra, performing in both jazz and folk genres. She helped formed a group called PACHAMAMA with two Chilean born musician singers, Marisol Pacheco and Jorge Bontes, and longtime friend Tony Hunter (mandolin/ Bouzouki). They were scheduled to perform at Australia’s National Folk Festival at Easter in 2020 until the Covid-19 virus pandemic brought everything to halt.