Filomena Campus

Filomena Campus - Theatralia
Jazz vocalist, improviser, academic and theatre director.
Filomena Campus was born in Sardinia, and started her performing career in the 1990’s singing in her native island with groups committed to ethnic music, mostly related to Mediterranean, Sardinian and South American areas. In 1990’s Filomena studied jazz with musicians such as Paolo Fresu, Maria Pia De Vito, Ralph Towner, Pierre Favre, Norma Winstone and Sheila Jordan.
Filomena began to direct jazz musicians and actors in her first major project, A Game of Chess in 2000. The lyrics she wrote were inspired by the work of James Joyce, T.S.Eliot and Samuel Beckett. This project became part of a demo CD, Nightingale, recorded in Sardinia in 2001, prior to Filomena relocating to London. In UK Filomena began to experiment with improvised and contemporary music and in September 2002 she joined the Nubian Vibes tour project, led by Blue Note artist and key member of the Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Orphy Robinson, with Jean Toussaint, Cleveland Watkiss, Pat Thomas, Dudley Phillips, Kenrick Rowe, Rowland Sutherland and Celloman, for which she received excellent reviews in ‘Jazz UK’ magazine.
Since then she has been very active in the jazz and improvisation scene, collaborating with top musicians and performing at the Notting Hill Jazz Festival, the Barbican, Pizza on the Park, The Crypt, the Bloomsbury Theatre, The Albany, Nottingham Jazz Steps Festival, Manchester Jazz Week and other major venues across the UK. Filomena has also performed live on BBC Radio 3 with jazz band Quattro+. In December 2003, Filomena featured in Orphy Robinson’s X-Mas Files, working alongside Andy Sheppard, Guy Barker, Julian Joseph, Byron Wallen, Gary Crosby, Mark Mondesir, Soweto Kinch and Cleveland Watkiss.
Filomena Campus is also founder and director of Theatralia Collective and university lecturer in London. She has collaborated with the BBC Singers, the UCL Bloomsbury, the New London Orchestra, Hackney Empire, the National Chamber Music Course and several other organisations both in the UK and in Italy. In 2004 Filomena co-founded the acclaimed jazz quintet In Kimbe with flautist Rowland Sutherland.
In 2006 she was awarded by the Arts Council England for Theatralia production Misterioso, a jazz concert fused with theatre and live art, based on the text by acclaimed Italian writer Stefano Benni. Misterioso has received excellent reviews in UK and Italy and has been broadcasted by Italian RAI TV.

In 2007 Misterioso was sponsored by Arts Council England and sold out at Riverside Studios in London.

Misterioso will be part of the Edinburgh Festival 2008 at the prestigious Assembly Rooms, Queen's Hall with Byron Wallen as special guest
Event sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute Edinburgh, Feltrinelli and Trinity Theatre.

MISTERIOSO by THEATRALIA
www.myspace.com/theatralia
Filomena Campus
Credits include:

-The Nubian Vibes Tour, led by Orphy Robinson, with Jean Toussaint, Cleveland Watkiss, Pat Thomas, Kenrick Rowe and Celloman
- London Improvisers Orchestra, featuring, Evan Parker, Lol Coxhil and Steve Beresford

- Sunday Supplement, Millfield Theatre, Free Improvised Music, with Toni Kofi, Toni Bevan and Aref Dervesh

-A-Trane, Berlin, with Andreas Schmidt trio

- Schlot Berlin www.kunstfabrik-schlot.de with pianist Andreas Schmidt feat Rainer Winch (drums) and Tim Shafer (bass)

-The Mozambique Waitless Tour, international project in collaboration with Massukos and Water Aid, Mozambique, featuring Mark Sanders (drums), Dean Brodrick (acordion), Simon King (guitar), Gideon Juckes (tuba), Chris Smallwood (sax).
www.myspace.com/emptyboat, www.myspace.com/massukos.
- Theatralia’s Human Interludes improvised music and live art featuring Steve Lawson, Roger Goula Sarda and B.J.Cole

-BBC Radio 3 – Quattro+, with Orphy Robinson, Pat Thomas, Dudley Phillips and Kenrick Rowe

-Duo concerts with pianists Benet McLean and Zoe Rahamn

-X-Mas Files, working alongside Andy Sheppard, Guy Barker, Julian Joseph, Byron Wallen, Gary Crosby, Mark Mondesir, Soweto Kinch and Cleveland Watkiss

-Time in Jazz, Jazz Festival, Bortigiadas, Deragliamenti (2002), original project Nightingale, featuring Massimo Ferra (guitar),Paolo Carrus (piano), Massimo Tore (bass) Roberto Pellegrini (drums)

-Time in Jazz 2000, Berchidda, Sardinian Jazz Festival,The Three Crocodiles Project and guest with Alain Jean Marie


FILOMENA CAMPUS' PROJECTS:

- MISTERIOSO, A Journey Into The Silence Of Theloniuos Monk
Misterioso, written by Stefano Benni, Adapted and directed by Filomena Campus. Jazz & Live Art acclaimed production featuring Pat Thomas, Guy Barker, Jean Toussaint, Orphy Robinson, Rowland Sutherland, Cleveland Watkiss, Dudley Phillips, David Leahy and Kenrick Rowe, inventive digital art by SDNA.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY

‘Triumph of Misterioso. The play by Stefano Benni about the life of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, was sold out each night and totally charmed its enthusiastic audience’ (ANSA)


JAZZWISE The UK's biggest selling jazz magazine –Jazz Publication of the Year
Monk’s Mysterious Silence Gets Multi-Media Treatment
A fascinating night of music and verse to commemorate the creative struggle of jazz musicians during the McCarthy era is taking place at the Riverside Studios, in Hammersmith, London on 22, 23, 24 November. Entitled Misterioso: A Journey Into The Silence Of Monk it brings together leading UK musicians Guy Barker, Jean Toussaint, Pat Thomas, Rowland Sutherland, David Leahy and Kenrick Rowe in a work adapted and directed by singer and theatre director Filomena Campus and based on a work by top Italian satirical writer Stefano Benni. With singer Cleveland Watkiss providing the voice of Monk, the story is linked via pieces from the iconic pianist interspersed with moving texts and writings from the era. Monk reacted to the personal struggle he faced by spending the last seven years of his life in complete silence, this work takes direct inspiration from both his musical genius and his status as an outsider. (November 2007)

TIME OUT -LONDON- A night of music and readings inspired by Thelonious Monk's self-imposed seven-year silence, maintained until his death as an act of protest against the oppressive McCarthy era. With readings from Monk's innermost thoughts – voiced by Cleveland Watkiss – interspersed with music from a superlative cast of top UK names and poetic words from acclaimed Italian satirist Stefano Benni . This should prove a thought provoking and entertaining mix of words and music. RECOMMENDED - Nov 2007

'The success of the show arises from both the remarkable performance of the actors, musicians and audience participation' (Café Babel)

Theatre's night of Monkish magic - 22 November 2007 - EDITORIAL - [email protected] - Misterioso
Was it a jazz concert, was it a play or was it an art show? The answer is it was a stunning fusion of all three. Recreating the setting of a 50s' jazz club, Misterioso explores the magic of jazz through the story of pianist Thelonious Monk, a genius and an outsider who spent the last seven years of his life in complete silence. An evening of notes and verse about the struggle of jazz musicians in the McCarthy era, it alternated poetic words written by Stefano Benni with Monk's spellbinding notes. It was a fascinating mix of live music by a splendid jazz ensemble and stunning projected art works. Nothing is as it seems in this production although we did guess the exotically-dressed black girl at the next table might be "a plant". Christina Oshunniyi played Billie Holliday but this lady not only did not sing the blues but didn't sing a note. However, her feline sensuality dominated the stage and held every eye as she undulated and padded around it. It was the white woman Filomena Campus who sang to us - often in her native Italian. The multi-talented Ms Campus also translated and directed Misterioso. Her fellow musicians included the illustrious Jean Toussaint on tenor saxophone who has worked with all the greats. His "golden fire" filled the theatre like a wrap-around embrace. Pat Thomas, who played the piano, could have been Monk himself with his rangy frame bent over the keyboard in a trademark hat. Pannonica Butterfly - a reference to a Monk song - was played by Rachel Snider in a very stylised, stylish manner.(..) Her clear ringing tones successfully accompanied the action in an evocation of another era. Sophisticated, soigné, cool and classy, the evening managed to simultaneously entertain, engage, educate and enrich which is a rarity for a theatrical experience. MARY BROSNAN



ITALIAN PRESS

LA REPUBBLICA, 12 NOVEMBRE 2007 -ENRICO FRANCESCHINI - LONDRA -
(...) Qui a Londra, adattato e diretto dalla regista e cantante italiana Filomena Campus con la sua compagnia Theatralia, lo show porta sul palcoscenico due stelle del jazz contemporaneo come Guy Barker e Jean Toussaint. È la storia, in versi e note musicali, non solo di Monk, il leggendario pianista jazz che trascorse gli ultimi anni della sua vita senza più pronunciare una sola parola, chiuso in un silenzio di protesta, ma anche più in generale della lotta dei musicisti jazz nell..America del maccartismo e della "caccia alle streghe", quando gli artisti sospettati di simpatie comuniste venivano messi nella lista nera o perseguitati. Trent..anni dopo Bar Sport, e dopo la trentina di libri che Benni ha scritto dopo quello del suo esordio, Misterioso è una prova, come ha scritto il romanziere inglese Jonathan Coe, «dello straordinario talento e della poliedricità dell..autore». Fece il tutto esaurito nel 2006 a Camden, ora si prevede lo stesso ai Riverside Studios.

(ANSA) - LONDRA, 23 NOV - Un gigante del jazz, tra musica,razzismo, silenzi e l'isteria del maccartismo contro un'arte percepita come sovversiva: questa è la vita di Thelonious Monk raccontata in 'Misterioso' di Stefano Benni, portato ieri sera in scena dalla regista e cantante italiana Filomena Campus al Riverside Studios di Londra. Uno spettacolo raffinato, con grande jazz e il recitato che riporta all'America degli anni Cinquanta, al suo drammatico contrasto di bianco e nero, che è poi il tema cromatico, razziale e pianistico di 'Misterioso' . Tra immagini filmate, musiche e narrazioni della vita di Monk, Campus, eccellente vocalist jazz, porta sul palco con la sua compagnia Theatralia - tra inglese ed italiano - le sensazioni e le riflessioni di Benni mescolate con le note del grande pianista. Davanti al palco, come in un jazz club fumoso d'altri tempi, i tavoli degli spettatori, con tanto di cameriera che porta i drink. Accanto alla cantante e regista, un poderoso ensemble di jassisti di altissimo livello: Guy Barker (tromba), Jean Toussaint (sax), Pat Thomas (piano), Rowland Sutherland (flauto), Dudley Phillips (basso), Kenrick Rowe (batteria), Orphy Robinson (vibrafono, percussioni), mentre Cleveland Watkiss, cantante, è la voce di Monk. Favolosa, nei panni di Billie Holiday e Nellie Monk, moglie di Thelonious, l'attrice Christina Oshunniyi. Campus, artista sarda da anni attiva sulla scena teatrale e musicale inglese, dove ha portato con successo una versione di U-238 di Marco Paolini, usa i testi di Benni per raccontare non solo pensiero di Monk. In questo 'Misterioso' si dice di una vicenda umana ed artistica, ma c'é posto anche per una riflessione musicale e filosofica sul silenzio, una condizione che il grande pianista morto nel 1982 scelse di abbracciare negli ultimi sette anni di vita.

Il silenzio bianco e nero di Monk.
“Misterioso” omaggio di Filomena Campus
Sul risvolto della locandina, un avviso: vi godrete meglio lo spettacolo se vestite di bianco e nero. L'invito guardarobiero potrebbe sembrare cosa strana, riferito com'è a uno spettacolo teatrale, ma se uno ci pensa un poco, invece ha molto senso. Perché l'ultimo lavoro portato in scena al Riverside Studios da Filomena Campus, jazz vocalist e regista teatrale sarda trasferitasi a Londra nel 2001, proprio di quello parla: di nero e bianco come simbolo di musica e silenzio, di oppressione e protesta, di lacerazione e armonia. Se poi si aggiunge che Misterioso - questo il nome dello spettacolo - è una performance jazz, il bianco e nero diventano quasi d'obbligo. E che jazz: nientemeno che Thelonious Monk, il mitico pianista nero che visse gli ultimi 7 anni della sua vita (morí nel 1982) senza proferir una sola parola - in bilico fra genio o follia, a seconda dei punti di vista. Misterioso nasce da un recital di Stefano Benni, che riflette poeticamente sul silenzio e la musica di Monk, ed è incentrato originariamente su una voce narrante e un contrappunto di pianoforte. Filomena Campus, conosciuto Benni per l'intercessione di Paolo Fresu, ha tradotto il testo in inglese, e lo ha adattato arricchendolo musicalmente con l'apporto di una jazz band di calibro internazionale tra cui spiccano il sassofono di Jean Touissant (che collaborò con Art Blakey, uno dei membri originari della band di Monk), la tromba di Guy Barker (che vanta una nomination al Mercury Prize e gli arrangiamenti per del film Il Talento di Mr Ripley ) e il suo stesso potente, appassionato, versatile canto. Dopo il successo che questo spettacolo aveva riscosso lo scorso anno (fu premiata dall'Arts Council England), Campus lo ha riproposto in una veste più raffinata e curata, andata di scena per tre giorni al Riverside Studios, teatro londinese sul cui palco hanno recitato fra gli altri Dario Fo e Franca Rame. Un successo, testimoniato dal tutto esaurito venerdì e sabato.(...) A Londra, Campus ha fondato nel 2003 la compagnia Theatralia, che, oltre a sperimentare idee di teatro multimediale e multilinguistico, ben riflette questa visione politica. Tra le sue produzioni spiccano infatti Not in my name , incentrato sulla vera storia di Karla Tucker, giustiziata in Texas nel 1998, e U-238 , su testo di Marco Paolini. E oggi il successo di Misterioso , dove in sostanza il silenzio di Thelonius Monk viene letto, poeticamente, come una forma di protesta contro la persecuzione culturale di stampo maccartista.(...) ANDREA FOIS- L'Unione Sarda, 27/11/2007



IN KIMBE www.myspace.com/inkimbe

Filomena Campus & Rowland Sutherland’s IN KIMBE

International jazz band featuring John Crawford (piano), Dudley Phillips (double bass) and Simon Pearson (drums).

Alongside vibrant and expressive originals from the bandleaders and musical influences stretching from the Mediterranean through to Brazil, their repertoire also includes new arrangements of classics from these regions by such writers as Egberto Gismonti, Maria Joao and Hermeto Pascoal. In Kimbe’s performance is an engaging experience for the audience who also participate in the band’s interactive free improvisation segments during their concerts.
In Kimbe has performed since 2004 at 'Jazz Live' The Crypt, Pizza on The Park, Spice of Life, Native Tongue and other noted venues across London and the UK. The bands’ guests have included Jonathan Gee, piano and Davide Mantovani ,bass.

THE NUBIAN VIBES ENSEMBLE
A project that brings together some of the most exciting & interesting musicians in London. The ensemble has undergone two successful UK tours sponsored by the Arts Council England. The music, composed by Orphy Robinson, is an original inspired fusion of African, Classical, Jazz & Latin. Featuring: Orphy Robinson: Marimba. Filomena Campus: Vocals, Jean Toussaint: Soprano saxophone Rowland Sutherland: Flutes, Sam Bishai: Violin, Mandy Drummond: Viola, Ivan Hussey: Cello, Pat Thomas: Piano, Dudley Phillips: Double Bass, Kenrick Rowe: Drums.www.myspace.com/nubianvibes

QUATTRO +
‘Orphy Robinson’s project featuring vocals by Sardinian vocalist Filomena Campus alongside Quattro members Pat Thomas, Dudley Phillips and Kenrick Rowe. Their first performance was on the popular BBC Radio 3 programme for contemporary classical music “In Tune”. They were one of the first groups from the Jazz idioms to be invited to perform on the live music programme in November 2002. This was immediately followed by concert appearances at the Notting Hill Jazz Festival and Bristol to sell out audiences. Vocalist Filomena Campus first appeared with Orphy’s 16 piece ensemble Nubian Vibes on his Arts Council sponsored tour in 2002 in the north of England where she was featured alongside vocalist Cleveland Watkiss, to great acclaim and was then invited to perform with Quattro. In 2003 the group has toured and performed in UK and an album is imminent’ (Press Review, 2002) www.myspace.com/orphyrobinson
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