Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard

Background information
Birth name

Lisa Gerrard

Born

12 April 1961

Origin

Melbourne, Australia

Genres

Neoclassical dark wave, new-age, ethereal wave, gothic rock

Occupations

Composer
Singer
Musician

Instruments

Vocals, accordion, keyboards, yangqin, dulcimer, guitar

Years active

1981present

Labels

Gerrard Records

[1]

Associated acts Dead Can Dance

Website

www.lisagerrard.com

[1]

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

Lisa Gerrard

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
Main article: 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 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

Rotterdam, 2007.

Lisa Gerrard

3
"Now We Are Free" (2000)
30 second extract from "Now We Are Free" by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Theme from Gladiator (2000 film).

Problems playing this file? See media help.

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 Rymaden, 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.

Lisa Gerrard
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 [6].

Film career
Gerrard's first experience in composing music for a film came with
the 1989 Spanish film El Nio de la Luna, directed by Agust
Villaronga. The film score was composed by Dead Can Dance and
the film featured Lisa Gerrard in her first acting role. El Nio 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
Warsaw, 2009
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 Rymaden,
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. 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.

Lisa Gerrard

Vocal ability
Gerrard possesses the vocal range of a contralto. [7] Her voice has
been described as rich, deep, dark, mournful and unique.
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".[8][9] Wikipedia:Citation needed
Gerrard however performs more predominantly in the dramatic
contralto range in her other songs, "Sanvean", "Sacrifice", "Largo"
and "Not Yet".[10][11][12][13]
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.[14] 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.
Paris concert

Discography
Dead Can Dance
Further information: Dead Can Dance discography

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 [6]
The Best of Lisa Gerrard (2007)
The Black Opal (2009) released by Gerrard
Records [6]
Twilight Kingdom (2014) released by Gerrard
Records [6]
Singles
"Sanvean" (1995)
"The Human Game" (with Pieter Bourke, 1998)
"Abwoon" (with Patrick Cassidy, 2003)
"Hommage A Polska. 17 wrzenia" (with Klaus Schulze, 2009)
Coming Home (2010) released by Gerrard Records [6]

Lisa Gerrard with Klaus Schulze 2009.

Lisa Gerrard
Entry (2010) released by Gerrard Records [6]
Come This Way (2010) released by Gerrard Records [6]
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
Dzikuj 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)
Rotterdam, Netherlands 2007
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)

Lisa Gerrard

Movie score composing and contributions

Dmoni 2 (1986) (as Dead Can Dance)

El Nio 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
Whalerider (Original Soundtrack) (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 (film) (2014) with Hans Zimmer

Lisa Gerrard

Video game composing and contributions

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011)
Armello (2015) with Michael Allen

Sources
[1] http:/ / www. lisagerrard. com
[2] Interview with The Independent Newspaper (http:/ / www. independent. co. uk/ arts-entertainment/ truly-madly-deeply-dippy-1597797. html)
[3] Brendan Perry biography (http:/ / ark. brendan-perry. com/ biography. php), brendan-perry.com. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
[4] deadcandancelibrary.com (http:/ / www. deadcandancelibrary. com/ )
[5] http:/ / www. timcopejourneys. com/ index. pl?page=1446/
[6] http:/ / www. lisagerrardmusic. com/
[7] http:/ / www. musicfolio. com/ modernrock/ lisagerrard. html
[8] Elegy (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=Z4PqWjug1Jg)
[9] The Host of Seraphim (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=ZV2dcF_BYvI)
[10] Sacrifice (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=BoXsxYf2UMA)
[11] Sanvean (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=1xpkRj99FH0)
[12] Largo (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=fXc_YVn73PA& feature=related)
[13] Not Yet (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=6p7D5CGY4sg)
[14] http:/ / www. imdb. com/ name/ nm0314713/ bio

External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lisa Gerrard

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lisa Gerrard.

Lisa Gerrard: Official Site (http://www.lisagerrard.com)

Lisa Gerrard (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0314713/) at the Internet Movie Database
Lisa Gerrard (http://musicbrainz.org/artist/cd645207-1664-46af-9953-264e9ae54089) discography at
MusicBrainz
Gerrard, Lisa (1961 - ) (http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0409b.htm) in The Encyclopedia
of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Lisa Gerrard Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=618629741 Contributors: *drew, --XenaDance--, 999, A More Perfect Onion, ACSE, Abdullais4u, Abf1982, Adam78, Adnan,
Afterwriting, Aggelophoros, Alensha, AlexLibman, Alison, AlistairMcMillan, AnnaP, Arczi, Aspects, B ward 84, BCable, Bakhshi82, Bearcat, Bigandbeautifulgirl, Bkonrad, Bluejay Young,
Bob1983, Boredofitall, Braindeadagain, BrotherDarksoul, CJCurrie, CLW, Cameron Scott, CanisRufus, Canoe1967, Capitalistroadster, Ceoil, Chickyraptor, Chillum, Clodomir17, Cnwb,
CommonsDelinker, Corti, Crystallina, Cuddy Wifter, D6, DMCer, Dashiellx, David Gerard, Dawkeye, Deeday-UK, Discospinster, Dittaeva, Dl2000, Earendel, Earwicker23, Ecw4w44, Ericorbit,
Evercat, Everyking, Fastily, Feduciary, Feydey, Filmscore, Flygui, FordPrefect42, Fyrael, Gabriellerosey, Gaius Cornelius, Gandalf1982, Garion96, GeeJo, Gene Poole, GeoffCapp,
GerrardRecords, Glitter1959, Gmazeroff, Gobonobo, GoingBatty, Golbez, Graham87, Greudin, Gtz, HappyWaldo, Heaventree of Stars, Hugo-cs, Imrek, Ineversigninsodonotmessageme,
Irishguy, Jaan513, JackofOz, Jafeluv, Jahiegel, JanCeuleers, January, JazzaStudios, Jdiliberto, Jenafalt, Jetman, Kaneshirojj, Kay Dekker, Kc28kenneth, Kelly Martin, Khukri, Koavf, Krun, Kurt
Shaped Box, L Kensington, Lecoroner, LeeHunter, Letterwing, LiDEL, LilHelpa, Lilybaeum, Lindsay3119, Longhair, Maelor, Mankind 2k, Manop, Margofilop, Matheus6666, Mauls, Melesse,
Mitsukai, Mogism, Moondyne, Murgh, Musicwikiedits, MuzikJunky, Nall, Naufana, Neo-Jay, Ngorongoro, Nicke L, Nrswanson, Ntrval, Nv8200p, Orihaus, Paul Pogonyshev, Pearle,
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photographer, SpiderMum, Sterry2607, Synthwave.94, TMC1982, Tassedethe, Terrasidius, ThePhantom28, Tide rolls, Tjpob, TonyTheTiger, Treyt021, Tribal44, Typhoon966, Vasi, Waacstats,
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