TARA TIBA & JOSIAH PADMANABHAM
DUO DEBUT

Doors 12pm
Show 1pm

An intimate meeting of voice, piano and two deeply connected musical minds.

ARIA Award nominated singer-songwriter Tara Tiba and pianist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Josiah Padmanabham come together for the debut of a new musical partnership born from an immediate and instinctive artistic connection.

Tara’s powerful and expressive voice, grounded in the rich tradition of Persian classical music, meets Josiah’s deeply rooted western classical background, jazz sensibility and adventurous approach to music. Together, they create space for Persian music, jazz, improvisation and contemporary influences to intersect in unexpected ways.

Since beginning their collaboration earlier this year, Tara and Josiah have found a distinctive musical chemistry that continues to shape their work together. They are currently writing and developing new music for a forthcoming album, exploring a shared musical language that is still unfolding.

For this special debut at The Ellington, the duo will bring their chemistry to the stage in an intimate performance celebrating the space between tradition, improvisation and discovery.

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About the Artists

Celebrated internationally for her powerful, genre-defying artistry, ARIA nominated Tara Tiba has captivated audiences around the world with performances at iconic venues and festivals including New York’s The Met, Spain’s National Auditorium, BBV Tivoli in Portugal, and WOMADelaide.
Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and now based in Perth, Australia, Tara Tiba is one of the few singers of her generation to have mastered the Persian classical repertoire of Radif. Hailed for her spinetingling voice and fearless musical vision, her work weaves traditional Persian vocal technique with jazz, Latin, and contemporary music, drawing on texts from classical Persian poets such as Rumi alongside her own original lyrics.
Denied the right to perform publicly in her homeland of Iran as a female singer, Tara emerged as an expatriate trailblazer after relocating to Western Australia. She has performed for over 50,000 people at the opening event Home for the Perth Festival, and for the Festival’s Siren Song project, her voice was broadcast from an installation of 500 speakers mounted on skyscrapers across Perth at dawn and dusk for ten days.
Tara has released two studio albums: A Persian Dream (2014) and OMID (Hope, 2019). OMID earned a five-star review in The Australian, an ARIA Award nomination, and won WAM Song of the year Award, cementing her reputation as one of Australia’s most distinctive voices in world music.
After confronting and overcoming a profound post-viral illness that reshaped both her life and artistry, the multi-award-winning and ARIA Award–nominated singer-songwriter returns to the stage with renewed creative force. Her music gives voice to resilience and transformation – exploring pain, physical and mental illness, and the cycle of falling and rising again. At its core, her work celebrates endurance, rebirth, and, above all, the defiant power of HOPE.

Josiah Padmanabham is a pianist, composer and multi-instrumentalist deeply rooted in both classical and jazz music. A graduate of the University of Western Australia with a degree in Composition, Josiah is known for his exceptional musicianship, curiosity and versatility, and is highly regarded within Perth’s music community.
While piano is his primary instrument, Josiah also plays guitar and works extensively as a composer, songwriter and arranger. His musical practice spans jazz, classical and contemporary music, with releases including work with Grievous Bodily Calm, Bad Whip and under his solo project, Gazey.
Josiah is currently collaborating closely with Tara Tiba, with the pair writing and developing new music together as they explore a distinctive shared musical language.