Photo by Angie Contini
The Third Voice trio consists of three talented female vocalists - Clarita Derwent, Gemma Turner, and Christina Mimmocchi. Each member is an experienced soloist in their own right, who first met early in their careers in the popular group Blindman's Holiday. They all share a passion for well-written songs, harmonious voices, and music that engages both the body and the mind. In The Third Voice, they collaborate to create original songs and curate material from a variety of sources that they love. They arrange these songs as a cappella pieces or add new elements with guitar, live-looping, concertina, cello, and percussion.
Throughout their careers, they have been involved in various musical endeavours, including songwriting, a cappella performance, leading bands, conducting choirs, and exploring different musical styles both in Australia and internationally.
Since forming in Sydney, the trio has performed at a range of venues, events, and festivals across Australia, including the Cobargo Folk Festival and the National Folk Festival. They have recently released their debut EP, thanks to a grant from the Inner West Council.
The new album with The Third Voice & Band includes original songs by Christina and Gemma, as well as new arrangements of Afro-Cuban songs by Clarita. The EP, produced by Llew Kiek, also showcases his impressive guitar skills and features percussion by Jess Ciampa and bass by Peter Firth. Additional voices from community choirs directed by Christina and Gemma can also be heard on the recording.
Christina Mimmocchi
Christina is a folk singer who has been performing for many years. She has a large of original songs, ranging from soft and delicate to powerful social justice anthems. Christina has a talent for connecting with her audience and telling engaging stories. She is also passionate about community music and has led many choirs. Originally a jazz saxophonist studying English at UNSW, Christina's love for language and music led her to become songwriter. In 2011, she released her solo album "umours of Summer" with some of Australia's top musicians. Her latest project, "And Then the Wind Changed," is a song cycle inspired by the early colonial days of Randwick and will be released in 2024. A skilled collaborator, Christina has worked on various theatre productions and written commissioned songs for different events. She enjoys organising events that bring people together through music, such as the Sydney Folk Galah and Out & About festival. Christina has also managed a music venue in the past and has experience working in youth theatre and arts funding organisations. Aside from her solo work, Christina performs with singer Margaret Walters and guitarist Greg White in different duos.
Clarita Derwent
Clarita's musical journey began at a young with a diverse background in singing, dancing, and playing instruments. She studied classical violin, piano, ballet, and voice early on and performed regularly throughout her teens. From singing in harmonious groups to musicals, she even had a brief collaboration with Tim Freedman in a band. She busked with her harmonium in Japan and sang with ska and reggae bands in Sydney before she was even old enough to buy alcohol Clarita furthered her studies in Musical Theatre and Jazz singing, and danced with Kinetic Energy Dance Company before embarking on a trip to India at 19 to study Indian classical singing. During a subsequent journey in Mexico & Central America, she decided to focus on the music and dance of Latin America, eventually becoming a fluent Spanish speaker. For over two decades, Clarita has immersed herself in the musical cultures of the region, particularly Cuba. She is a qualified Event & Tour Manager, organising events across Australia and serving as a producer for the Smith Family's 'Life Long Learning' programme since its inception in 2005. In between her annual trips to Cuba, she has performed and recorded with various bands in Australia, including Son Veneno, Jose Prates Big Band, Sandunga, Errol Renaud & Caribbean Soul, and Charanga Libre. Clarita has also studied music and dance with Cutumba Folklorico Dance Company, one of Cuba's oldest and most respected ensembles. She has a profound understanding of Lucumí (Santería), the Afro-Cuban spiritual practice that involves a connection with the natural elements. This vocal music is a crucial aspect of The Third Voice's distinctive sound. The standout performance from previous shows would be the Inaugural Sorry Day Concert 1998 performance at the Sydney Opera House, featuring Kev Carmody, Archie Roach, and Ruby Hunter.
Gemma Turner
Gemma is a singer and singing educator based in Sydney who specializes in various of contemporary popular music She has a particular passion for a cappella singing and songwriting, and her current project is The Third Voice. Over the past thirty years, she has toured nationally and internationally with several ensembles, including Blindman's Holiday, The Transylvaniacs, Kengugro, and Tokakros. Gemma has experience coaching singers of all levels, from beginners to professionals, in different settings such as postgraduate tertiary education, community music, and mental health. She is also an independent academic researcher with a PhD from the University of Sydney and previously worked as a lecturer and postgraduate supervisor at the Australian Institute of Music from 2011 to 2020. Her work has been published globally. Currently, her research focuses on group singing for mental health, singing as a part of Australian Indigenous language revitalization, and ecomusicology. If you are interested in learning more about her research, please visit her profile on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gemma-Turner-6.
ABOUT
THE THIRD VOICE
Our Story
How The Third Voice began - a series of fortunate events
When Christina Mimmocchi and Gemma Turner bumped into each other while queuing to hear the writers of Redfern Now at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2014, they had never worked together but knew each other's work. The link between them was the highly regarded a cappella group Blindman's Holiday. Gemma was in the original lineup (1986-1998). Christina came in later (2001-2007), and Clarita had been in Blindman's Holiday (1993-2009). Gemma's songs were still in the repertoire of Blindman's Holiday, and Christina liked them. This led to Gemma being invited to a songwriting group by Christina and singing harmony vocals in folk festival performances with Christina (National 2015, Cygnet 2016). Clarita and Gemma had sung together for years in 'BMH' before Gemma left the quintet, rejoining later to perform together with Clarita & original BMH member Linda Marr in the early 2000s. For some reason, which neither can remember, they got together to sing during a break in the pandemic. The aim was to have a bit of fun, no expectations, and no rules except that they should have a meaningful connection to the songs they chose. Around that time, Clarita and Christina had formed a duo called Siakara with the aim of performing & teaching the Afro-Cuban material that Clarita specialised in during her many years visiting Cuba. Then, in a way that seems inevitable in retrospect, the three pieces of the puzzle clicked together, and they became The Third Voice in mid-2021. The first thing that happened at this point was another lockdown, so their first demo of songs was recorded remotely with each vocal part sent from their individual home computers. But their determination paid off, and the group launched live in December of that year.
