Tamara Saulwick

Accomplished performance-maker, director and dramaturge with over 30 years of industry experience creating contemporary performance works for theatres, galleries, public spaces and radio. Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Chamber Made since 2017, leading Australia's only arts company wholly dedicated to creating original works at the nexus of music and performance. Recognised internationally for innovative use of digital, mobile and analogue technologies, with particular emphasis on the role of sound in live performance.

• Endings, 2015-2018, Co-commissioned by Arts House and Performance Space, part chamber concert, part performance work exploring death, dying and afterlife, international touring: Sydney Festival (premiere), Brighton Festival (UK), Dublin Theatre Festival, PuSh Festival (Vancouver), On The Boards (Seattle), awards: Green Room Award for 'Design & Realisation'; Nominated for Helpmann Award for 'Best New Australian Work', adapted for ABC Radio National's Soundproof (2016)
• Pin Drop, 2010-2014, Solo performance work exploring fear and threat built from audio interviews, premiered at Arts House (2010), presented by Malthouse Theatre (2011), national touring with Mobile States (2012), international presentation: Tramway, Glasgow (2014), multiple Green Room Awards winner for Outstanding Production (Theatre - Alternative and Hybrid Performance), adapted for ABC Radio National (2013)
• Alter, 2016-2018, Audio-visual installation for 16 iPads and 16 people, commissioned by Arts House for Festival of Live Art, developed during Blast Theory (UK) residency (09/01/15), international touring: China (2018) - galleries and cultural centres in Beijing, Xi-An, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai
• PUBLIC, 2013, Audio-led hybrid performance event in shopping centre food court, commissioned by Big West Festival, Maribyrnong, explores boundaries between public and private behaviour, nominated for Green Room Award for 'Outstanding Hybrid Work' (2013)
• Seddon Archives, 2011, Site-specific work commissioned by Big West Festival
• Newport Archives, 2016, 40-minute permanent audio walk commissioned by The Substation, site-specific work inspired by the history and people of Newport, Victoria

CHAMBER MADE WORKS

• My Self in That Moment, 2022, World premiere at The Substation, Newport, concept and direction by Tamara Saulwick, composition by Peter Knight, hybrid performance work for ensemble of 49 tablets and solo vocalist, explores fragmented and distributed self in digital age, themes of identity, agency and data ownership, nominated for APRA AMCOS Art Music Award for Excellence in Experimental Practice
• SYSTEM_ERROR, 2021, World premiere at Arts House, Melbourne, co-created and performed with Alisdair Macindoe, directed by Lucy Guerin, performance work for bodies and electronics featuring bespoke instrument designed by Macindoe, explores relationship between human bodies, technology, memory and mortality
• One Day We'll Understand, 2024-2025, Direction by Tamara Saulwick, featuring artist Sim Chi Yin, premiered at Esplanade Theatre Singapore (2024), upcoming: Asia TOPA, Melbourne (2025)
• Dragon Ladies Don't Weep, 2020-2024, Direction by Tamara Saulwick, video design by Nick Roux, dramaturgy by Kok Heng Leun, sonic portrait of pianist Margaret Leng Tan, performed by Tan, composition by Erik Griswold, international touring: Asia TOPA Melbourne (2020), Singapore (2021, 2022), Taiwan (2023), London Southbank Centre (2024)
• Diaspora, 2019, Melbourne Festival presentation, dramaturgy and co-direction with lead artist Robin Fox, science fiction revelation with projection, holograms and lasers
• Dybbuks, 2018, Conceived and directed by Samara Hersch (Chamber Made production), premiered at Theatre Works, Melbourne, exploration of Jewish mysticism and possession through performance
• Permission to Speak, 2016, Collaboration with composer Kate Neal, explores parent-child relationships through contemporary performance and musical composition, four performer-vocalists with pre-recorded voices in choral counterpoint, awards: 2017 APRA/AMCOS Art Music Award for Victorian Performance of the Year, nominated for Choral/Vocal Work of The Year

• Endings, 2016, Adapted for ABC Radio National's Soundproof with Peter Knight
• Pin Drop, 2013, Adapted for ABC Radio National
• Permission to Speak, 2016, Live recording broadcast on ABC Classic FM

Green Room Awards

• 2010: Outstanding Production Award – Pin Drop
• 2015: Design and Realisation Award – Endings

Green Room Award Nominations

• 2010: Sound Design and Composition, Mise-en-scene, Production Design – Pin Drop
• 2013: Outstanding Hybrid Work – PUBLIC
• 2015: Best Contemporary Performance – Endings
• 2016: Best Sound Performance – Permission to Speak

APRA/AMCOS Art Music Awards APRA/AMCOS Art Music Award

• 2017: Victorian Performance of the Year Award – Permission to Speak
• 2016: Vocal/Choral Work of the Year – Permission to Speak
• 2022: Excellence in Experimental Practice – My Self in That Moment

Nominations Helpmann Award Nominations

• 2015: Best New Australian Work – Endings

Testimony, Witness, Authority: The politics and poetics of experience, essay, Contributor to essay on Pin Drop, Working with technology/making technology work: A round table discussion, journal, Australasian Drama Studies, Issue 65, 2014, Numerous academic conferences on performance studies and sound dramaturgy