About
Natalia Mann is an award-winning harpist, composer and conceptual artist who specialises in music in its natural form, the language of universal sound.
Her international experiences in high art and cultural music give her a unique vantage from which to share Resonance music.
With a process aligned with Indigenous values Natalia’s work shows how music can be an activating force in the face of today’s environmental challenges.
Natalia hopes that her work with resonance will influence a new generation of musical players so that the Earth’s voice might be heard to sing more clearly in the conversations of our future world.
Biography
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Mann's musical journey began at the age of four when her family lived in Los Angeles. She initially focused on classical music, studying both harp and piano and by age 16, she was performing with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Mann's career is marked by a profound evolution from classical roots to a deep engagement with improvisation and experimental music. Her journey took a pivotal turn in her early twenties, leading her to explore diverse musical traditions and collaborate with artists from various genres. She co-founded the award-winning Samoan trio Suga (Sunga) and was an original member of the Turkish groups Gece and Unified Gecko, as well as the avant-garde improvisation trio Shima.
Her relocation to Melbourne, Australia, immersed her in the vibrant international folk and roots music scene, where she further honed her improvisational skills and collaborated on projects spanning meditation music, pop, hip hop, lounge, and experimental styles, while studying classical music at Victorian College of the Arts. Mann's work celebrates her Pacific Island heritage and reflects her passion for cultural fusion and artistic exploration.
In 2005, Mann moved to Istanbul, Turkey, where she performed alongside Turkish classical master musicians such as Izzet Kizil and Göksel Baktagir. This period saw her composing original pieces, culminating in the release of her critically acclaimed album "Pasif.ist" in 2011 on the Rattle NZ label.
Additional endeavours included serving as the principal harpist with the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, collaborating with the Black Grace contemporary dance company, and touring with New Zealand pop star Bic Runga. She continued to be active in abstract music, creating albums Medusa Dreaming (Neuma) in collaboration with sound artists Ros Bandt and Erdem Helvacioglu, and Utterance (Rattle NZ) with significant mentor Matua Richard Nunns and David Long.
Mann began to extend her musical expression into graphic scores, sculptural compositions, film, installation, and writing. Her conceptual framework, ‘Weaving of Perceptions’, seeks to unify diverse perspectives to uncover new truths and resonate with the multifaceted nature of reality.
Mann's work is deeply influenced by her connection to nature and visual art. She resettled in the South Pacific (2013 - present), to focus her creative research on vibrations of place and environment. She engages in projects that involve ‘playing’ the resonance of landscapes and environmental elements, creating immersive auditory experiences that celebrate presence and aliveness.
Mann began developing a quantum method she calls Resonance Music, a way of discovering the music within everything. ‘The Art of Listening’ explored playing art in galleries. The Sonic Earth explored the musical resonance of plants and trees. ‘The Blue Pen’ is a book of telepathic resonance with the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters star cluster.
Her music, performance and art installations have been commissioned for the National Museum of Australia, Fremantle Biennale and NorthSite Gallery, SA/MOA by Lila Meleisea for Ten Days on the Island, Bonemap Intermedia, Merindi Schrieber & Bulkaway Muruku, Victor Steffensen, Mandigalpay Yidinji, Minjil Arts, Emily Granger & Claire Edwardes for HUSH, NZ Harp Society and NZHarpFest.
Natalia has given workshops, talks and articles for the Melbourne Museum, Percy Grainger Museum, AsiaLink, NorthSite Gallery, National Indigenous Fire Workshop, Custodians of Country, Cairns Regional Council Green Space Our Place, Virtual Harp Summit I & II, NZ Harp Society, FNQ Harp Connection, Dumbo Feather Magazine, ABC Far North, Connect Magazine.
Mann’s art has been supported by Arts Queensland, Screenworks APRA/AMCOS, Regional Arts Development Fund, Cairns Regional Council, Tanks Arts Centre and NorthSite Gallery. She was awarded grants from Creative New Zealand and Creative New Zealand Pasifika Arts Board, Margaret Netze Legacy Fund and the Pasifika Arts Iosefa Enari Prize for Musical Excellence (2013).
Natalia Mann's career as a performer, composer, and collaborator has established her as a visionary artist, continually pushing the boundaries of music and inspiring audiences worldwide. Her unique approach to the harp has earned her recognition as a pioneering force in contemporary music.