About Anita Quayle
Anita Quayle is a contemporary cellist and composer with a flair for the unconventional. She began her training at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) to pursue artistic excellence.
The ability to be able to connect with others while creating music that doesn't fit the mould of the traditional role of the cello has not only further opened my eyes to a deeper joy and sense of freedom in music, it's also been of great benefit to the artists sound palettes that I meet and have the great fortune to collaborate with.
It was during this time at VCA that she was exposed to the wonders of the Contemporary Melbourne music scene, which ignited a fire and great desire to be involved and immersed in it! Less than 1 year later (in 1999) she was invited to be a member of Chris Wilson's legendary blues band The Crown of Thorns, and so began the incredible journey of exploring the infinite ways that the cello could be heard and represented in music. Her mission became very clear from that moment - to keep challenging genre expectations for the instrument by continuing to serve up sound, differently!
It's now coming up to 25 years in the industry, and Anita has performed live and collaborated with a vast array of musical icons and artists. These include singers/songwriters: Eddie Perfect, Shauntai Batzke, Russell Morris, Ainslie Wills, Nat Bartsch, and Zimbabwean RnB songstress Thando; dancer Alya Manzart from Chunky Move and playwriter Adam Cass, to name a few.
Anita also returned to university to complete a Bachelor degree in Contemporary music, studying film composition and production under Niko Schauble (Bed of Roses 2011, Stingers 2004), while improvisation studies were under Imogen Manins, Dr Tony Gould (2011 Jazz Bell award, order of Australia 2007) and Chris Hale (winner of the 2012 Freedman Fellowship).
"Working with Anita is a dream. Not only is she a virtuosic cellist, but also a musical, inventive, thoughtful and creative artist. Always up for any challenge, Anita’s artistic practice continuously evolves along with advances in technology and her numerous multi-artform collaborations.”
— Xani Kolac
In 2018, Anita created Melbourne Amplified Strings with contemporary violinist Xani Kolac. This project pushes the boundaries of string playing, incorporating electronic effects and live-looping. That same year she became a member of Spire ensemble. Directed by Xani Kolac, this fourteen-piece all female ensemble, took to the stage at Hamer Hall to perform with Australian vocal luminaries such as Claire Bowditch, Kate Ceberano and Mojo Juju. Spire's mission is to promote and celebrate diversity in music, by providing opportunities and lifting up female instrumentalists in our industry.
The following year, Monash University commissioned Anita to compose and record music for an advertisement campaign to launch their MLIVE season for 2019. Directed by Paul Grabowsky OA, the music academy's diverse arts and events program challenges, inspires and connects audiences through unique, live experiences.
Recently Anita has become a musical collaborator with The Knowing Project, directed by Grammy Award winner Lamine Sonko. Drawing on ancient wisdom to create curated experiences that are innovative, engaging and thought provoking, their current body of work titled '13:12' is an innovative cross art-form project exploring the intersection of music, science and culture. Musically the project pushes boundaries to fuse the styles of West African, contemporary classical and jazz.
The time I spent at the beginning of my career as a member of Chris Wilson's Crown of Thorns was arguably the most important and pivotal. To be given free reign to let loose (musically speaking) by Chris and the band (guitarist Andrew Pendlebury, peddle steel legend Graham Lee, drummer Chris Tabone, bassist Chris Rogers), to be able to dive deep and never stop challenging the status quo of the cello, has without a doubt shaped the musician I am today.