© photo Sergio Scudery
Feb 5th Fairfield Summer Concert Series Feb 5th Kavisha with La Voce Della Luna Italian Women's CHOIR
Feb 19th 5pm-6pm EMPTY SKY Mediation and Chant participatory singing session at Northcote Uniting Church with Jarek
Feb 24-26th Adelaide Fringe Festival with Arjun Raina's play" The Convict, the Colonial and the Cockatoo"
March 2-5th Nannup Music Festival WA Long weekend of March 2-5th
March 11 BARRIO Adelaide Festival SA with La Voce Della Luna Italian Women's Choir.
March 12th at Womadelaide SA with La Voce Della Luna Italian Women's Choir.
March 18th Ettalong Beach Festival NSW March 18th
April 1st Montsalvat Eltham Melbourne VIC 4pm Kavisha SOLO show with special guests
April 13-15 Fairbridge Festival WA
April 20th KULCHA Multicultural Arts Centre WA Kavisha solo show with special guests.
2013 highlights & shows
Kavisha with I Viaggiatori Italian Folk Band accompanying the 1924 silent film Dall' Italia All' Australia for 10 days on the Island Festival, Tasmania March 2013
BIOGRAPHY
ARIA award winner Kavisha Mazzella 's songs combine the ingredients of earthy ,sensual vocals with deep lyrics that have humourous,poetic,social justice and mystic themes.They take you on an uplifting boundary riding adventure as she visits traditional italian folk and her own well crafted songs that ring with echoes of celtic,fado and gypsy influences. Many people listen to Kavisha 's music when they're going through personal changes .Whether they are getting married, having babies, or while they're dying, It strikes a deep chord within.
Born in London, England, to an Italian father and Anglo- Burmese mother and migrating to Australia in the early sixties, Kavisha comes from a musical family. Her maternal Grandmother played old folk tunes on banjo and sang in the church choir , her mother played guitar and sang and was her first guitar teacher.Her paternal uncle Isidoro Mazzella is a singer of the Neopolitan Bel Canto tradition and her daughter Kiki Wilmot is becoming a fine singer with her own style.Her Brother Marco Mazzella, a deaf musician has written many beautiful songs such as One Day and another brother Giri Antonio Mazzella is a fine actor,clown doctor and has a background in classical singing having been a child soloist at Saint Mary's Cathedral Choir in Perth.
Born amongst a family of singers , it was her destiny to sing.Whilst studying fine art at Claremont Art School ,Kavisha started playing at a local winebar to pay for her paints and got carried away by music! In 1987 She met up with John Reed and formed Rich 'N' Famous .They were joined by Lee Buddle , Gary Burke, Rueben Kooperman, and Peter Grayling in Fremantle .In 1993 she migrated to Melbourne embarking on her solo career.
ITALIAN FOLK. Since the late 80's she has also been exploring her musical heritage of Italian Folk Roots music and is one of Australia's finest exponents of the Italian Folksong Tradition. She also sings from time to time with her brother Giri Antonio Mazzella in the Commedia Academy of Australia's The Black Nonnas Music Theatre and with i Viaggiatori (the Travellers) Italian Folk Band.She also leads the Melbourne Italian Women's Choir "La Voce Della Luna"
MEDITATION. Brought up in a strict but loving Catholic family, Kavisha loved singing in the choir and was fascinated by stories of the saints but eventually rebelled against going to church. When Kavisha was 17 years old , her spiritual search led her to doing a 10 day Vipassana course with John Coleman. It's life changing effect whetted her appetite for deeper spiritual experience and she did several Vipassana Courses including one in Dharmagiri India with Goenkaji. At age of 21 she came across Osho Rajneesh , and soon after became a sannyasin being given the name "Dharma Kavisha" meaning The Path of the Goddess of Poetry. Kavisha has also explored Dzogchen in Tibetan Buddhism , Advaita Philosophy with Sailor Bob and is currently a student at the Wu Wei Tai Chi School .Kavisha brings all these influences into her choir teaching , ecstatic singing style and exploration of silence through meditative singing in Empty Sky Kirtan.
HEALING THROUGH SONG in Empty Sky Kirtan....Kavisha together with guest musicians including Jarek Czechowicz runs a Meditation, Song and Silence group once a month at Northcote Uniting Church called" Empty Sky "in which meditative chants and songs from different sacred world traditions are sung interspersed by periods of silence.This is held every third Sunday of the month from 5pm-6pm.Donation is $10.
CHOIRS .Kavisha also leads a multifaith multicultural choir at Manningham Arts Centre called the United Nations Of Song which is open every term to new members.Here we explore the common ground in culture and faith in a fun relaxed atmosphere. Also Kavisha runs a choir for friends,family and those on their healing journey from mental Illness.Kindly sponsored by the Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria this is called The Moon's A Balloon Choir.
FESTIVALS. Since 1991, Kavisha has performed at many Australian Folk Festivals such as Toodjay Folk festval,Maleny, Fairbridge,Port Fairy and Woodford and International music festivals that include Australia -Ireland Festival Dublin,Cork Arts Festival Ireland, Edinburgh Fringe Festival Scotland,Calgary Folk Festival Canada,European Union Broadcasters Festival Miscolc Hungary, Femme Funk festival New Caledonia... and Whare Flats festival New Zealand. In July 2011 Kavisha was invited as a singing mentor in EthnoHistria festival in Slovenia EU.

Mavis Goes To Timor Choir 2001 photo© Jon Greene
Awards and Nominations
Kavisha Mazzella AM. In 2011 Kavisha recieved an Australia Day Honour .She has been made a Member of the Order Of Australia (AM) in for services to singing, songwriting and reflecting Indigenous, Multicultural and Refugee experiences through performances . Also in 2011 Kavisha was awarded the National Film and Sound Archive Award for outstanding cd "Love and Sorrow", Victorian Multicultural Commission Excellence Award in Community Arts 2008 ,Port Fairy Artist Of The Year 2004, ARIA nomination 2003 for Best World Release" Silver Hook Tango",Italian Government award Italia Nel Mondo Award 2000 ,
Other awards include the Australian World Music Awards Best Female Artist Thredbo 1999,ARIA 1998 ( Australian Recording Industry Award ) for Best World Music Album of the year "Fisherman's Daughter ", GREENROOM AWARD 1996 Musical Direction of "Emma Celebrazione" by Graham Pitts , the WAMIA 1993 Outstanding Female Vocalist WAMIA (West Australia Music Industry Award) 1990 Songwriting Prize for "Wedding Sheets"
Read more...