Citizens Band 2010-12

Each performer in Citizens Band 2012 comes from somewhere other than their current home. The work presents us with portraits of migrants performing musical traditions from their homelands, adapted for new environments. Played in succession, these chapters introduce us to four individuals: Geraldine, a Cameroonian woman, pounds the waters of a Parisian pool creating beats using a technique called akutuk (water drumming); on the Paris Métro Mohammad sings an Algerian folk ballad to indifferent commuters, accompanied by his decrepit Casio keyboard; Bukhchuluun, a Mongolian throat singer, plays a horse-hair fiddle on a Newtown street corner, his razor-sharp vocals vibrating on different tonal levels; and Asim, a Sudanese taxi driver and Conservatorium graduate, whistles an improvised tune in his Brisbane cab. Each musician delivers a distinct sound, using particular techniques that are inflected with their cultural origin. In the end, Mesiti brings her ‘band’ together across time and place to create a universal language of emotion.