LAFAYETTE, LA – Acadiana Center for the Arts is getting the Festival International spirit by bringing international artist, Ngaiire, to Lafayette. Hailing from the Eastern Highlands and New Ireland provinces of Papua New Guinea, though now Sydney, Australia-based, Ngaiire’s sound melds electronic neo-soul, gospel, and big pop sounds, strained through the lens of a First Nations Papua New Guinean songwriter.
Known for her boisterous costuming, stellar vocal force, tight beats and big brave pop sounds, Ngaiire is a musical force of nature.
Thursday, April 27, 7:30pm in AcA’s theater during Festival International week – experience a show like no other!
Tickets are available for all performances online at acadianacenterforthearts.org or by calling the AcA box office at 337-233-7060. Tickets begin at just $45 for Spotlight shows.
Described by Rolling Stone as “a near perfect slice of hushed future soul, the muted synths cushioning Ngaiire’s endlessly expressive vocal performance”, Ngaiire-pronounced nigh-ree (rhymes with diary), has an innovative approach that has garnered her 4 ARIA award nominations (the Australian Grammys) including Artist of the Year, 4 National Live Music Awards, 3 FBi Radio SMAC Awards, and the inaugural Australian Women in Music Award for Artistic Excellence.
She has collaborated with and joined other groundbreakers of sound on tour such as Sufjan Stevens, Alicia Keys, Flume, Nai Palm of Hiatus Kaiyote and Leon Bridges. In 2021, she became the first musician to play in front of the National Press Club in Canberra, the first Papua New Guinean to appear on ABC’s “Play School” (Australia’s “Sesame Street”) and the first Papua New Guinean to be painted for the historical Archibald prize.
Ngaiire may be most recognisable to US fans of the Oprah and Ava DuVernay show Queen Sugar with torch gospel song ‘Fall Into My Arms’ being featured in the penultimate episode of the second series.
Not allowing herself to be defined solely as a musician, Ngaiire is an avid visual artist and creator. She weaves this aspect of her creativity throughout her performances allowing audiences to further engage with the stories Ngaiire writes about. She is the painter behind her award nominated album cover for ‘3’ and has had her video work hung and displayed at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Ngaiire will be performing songs from her award-winning album 3 – a visual musical exploration into experiences of journeying to her ancestral villages in Papua New Guinea. A journey that gave her the whole number expression of 3 that describes the many aspects of the self she inhabits as a woman living between cultures, lands and cultural expectations. Drawing on her experiences growing up in Papua New Guinea, Ngaiire has a career that crosses genre and art form.
