In 2015, Anne Norman and Anja Tait gave two pilot concerts entitled “Whispered Shadows” within Darwin’s WWII Oil Storage Tunnel 5 with visiting violinist Emily Sheppard joining them on the second night.

From this initial exploration of the acoustics and phenomenal resonance of this subterranean venue, a CD was produced: Beneath the Surface.

Test run complete, with the assistance of project manager Anisha Stitfold, Anne successfully applied to the Australia Council for funding assistance to engage other musicians to join her in the tunnel for the first official Tunnel Number Five: Festival of Underground Music in 2016.

Here are links to sound clips and photos from 2015 as well as written reviews and on-line articles: http://altsoundings.com/audio/music/australia/whispered-shadows-underground-flute-meditations/

Bios of the performers:

Bios for Anja Tait and Anne Norman are here: https://tunnelnumberfive.com/bios/

Emily Sheppard – violin

Emily has a particular passion for improvisation, both on her instrument and in life. She plays in the string duo, the Eureka Ensemble, touring regional Australia, performing in schools and giving workshops in improvisation. She studied at Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), and her teachers have included Miwako Abe, Adam Chalabi and Peter Tanfield. In 2014 she played as a soloist with both Orchestra Victoria and the ANAM Orchestra and is a casual member with the Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria.

Emily has collaborated with Paul Kelly (‘Conversations with Ghosts’ 2012/13) and Katie Noonan, and plays in a genre bending Folk/Classical duo (Zoukin). Emily also recently performed with Michael Kieran Harvey in Tasmania, premiering three new works, including ‘Portrait of Bob Brown’, Michael’s musical homage. Selected works from this concert written by Michael and Emily are being recorded in December 2016 for release in early 2017.

In 2015 Emily performed in the resonant underground tunnels in Darwin with shakuhachi player Anne Norman, described as a ‘sensory experience’ (Vicki Kerrigan, ABC Radio presenter NT) and ‘enchanting and transformative’ (Will Tinapple, Director of ABC Open: Top End). The album “Beneath the Surface” was recorded in Tunnel Number Five and released in 2016. It features Emily with Anne Norman and Anja Tait (violin). ‘The improvisations … reveal the exceptional power of collective and spontaneous creativity…  so rich in audio images that it sounds like an artistic cinematic soundtrack.’  ALBUM REVIEW by Sonic Gallery

When not playing music, Emily likes dancing to it, and when she’s had enough of that she goes hiking.