Kate Ceberano

Born in Melbourne, Kate Ceberano established herself on the Australian scene in the mid-1980s as the singer of I’m Talking, a new wave and art-pop band whose album Bear Witness was released in 1986. After that initial phase she developed a solo career notable for fluid shifts between pop, soul, rock, jazz and cabaret, with a voice adaptable to very different repertoires. Her recordings include You’ve Always Got the Blues with Wendy Matthews (1988), Brave (1989), Think About It! (1991), Blue Box (1996) and Pash (1998), the latter marking a greater emphasis on her songwriting. At the same time she pursued stage and musical theatre projects, notably appearing in Jesus Christ Superstar in the early 1990s and later in South Pacific, while maintaining a steady connection to jazz evident on Bittersweet with Mark Isham (2009) and Tryst with Paul Grabowsky (2019). Her trajectory alternates between pop songs, standards, collaborations and acoustic or orchestral formats, culminating in My Life Is a Symphony (2023) with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Ceberano has also served as the artistic director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, reflecting a career located between popular music, stage and interpretation.