SARAY Iluminado
Musicians of SARAY Iluminado explore Bosnian Sevdah and Sephardic Jewish Romances through new immersive performance experiences that straddle borders of live music and ritualistic theatre. This group was established late in 2013 by three of the current members Nela Trifković, Kelly Dowall and Ernie Gruner. Irine Vela and Dan Witton joined the ensemble in 2016.
This group has performed extensively often presenting shows at the Melbourne Recital Centre, fortyfivedownstairs theatre, MEMO Music Hall and various local and national festivals. To learn more about this ensemble and book it visit www.sarayiluminado.com
SARAY Iluminado Femme
A trio derivative of the ensemble SARAY Iluminado, SARAY Iluminado Femme started by making an appearance at a women’s iftar gathering in 2017 and has operated ever since featuring predominantly, but not exclusively, at women’s events. The trio made their European debut at the Sicilian traditional music circuit in August 2019.
SARAY Iluminado Femme are multi-instrumentalists Irine Vela and Kelly Dowall with vocalist Nela Trifković. They perform Sevdah and Sephardic Jewish music and Nela Trifković’s original compositions. They are the instigators and members of the Resonant Heart collective.
The Resonant Heart
The Resonant Heart (TRH) is a collective that creates autonomous, authentic spaces for CALD and BIPOC women and female identifying artists to share their creative work with wider Australian audiences. This collective was instigated early in 2020 by Nela Trifković and her colleagues from the SARAY Iluminado Femme trio, Irine Vela and Kelly Dowall. The first cohort of The Resonant Heart Collective went to stage in the week of International Women’s Day in 202, produced and supported by the Boite and featuring Queen of Hearts and SARAY Iluminado Femme ensembles and two solo artists Tariro Mavondo and Aseel Tayah.
A new ensemble came together in 2022 including Iranian artists Vahideh Eisaei and Elnaz Sheshgelani, South Sudanese poet Lizzy Kuoth, Indian musician Sarita McHarg and SARAY Iluminado Femme. These artists premiered their work “The Heart Whispers and Whirls” at the Melbourne Recital Centre on March 8, 2023 and have since presented the remount of this work at the Kingston Arts Centre and the MRC in 2024. This work has been awarded the Contemporary Music Touring grant and is touring to Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney in the first half of 2025. The Resonant HeArtists are currently working on an artist accelerator professional development project with Music in Exile.
Suptilna Sila / Subtle Power
A new project that connects performers from the former-Yugoslav countries and the Balkans more broadly through the exploration and contemporary reconstruction of shared and individual cultural rituals and music/s. This project draws on multiple creative languages including live music, theatre, film, projection and installation. The first instalment is planned for 2025-26 and is co-created by Nela Trifković and Goran Ðurić with several other guest artists and academic researchers from the Western Balkans.
NELA TRIFKOVIĆ 