ABOUT

"Silent movies in black and white with smoke drifting across couples embracing to the Tango - this is the scene that Ruth paints with her music."

When Australian classical mandolinist Ruth Roshan was introduced to live Argentinean Tango in Paris at the age of 23, she was hooked. Now, with her quintet, Tango Noir and the expanded ensemble, Chamber Noir, she has recorded four albums of melodic Tango inspired pieces and songs, and gathered an exceptional group of musicians around her in the process. An engaging storyteller, Ruth transports listeners through moonlit scenes of waltzes on cobblestones and rain drenched embraces.

Ruth Roshan & Tango Noir have performed at many National Festivals and venues including MONA FOMA, the National Folk Festival, Bellingen Global Carnival, Fairbridge Folk Festival, Cygnet Folk Festival, Brisbane Powerhouse, Byron Theatre, Ellington Jazz Club, Randwick Town Hall, Kulcha, Albany Harbourside Concert Series, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Brisbane Cabaret Festival and Buenos Aires on the Beach. They have also played at numerous Victorian festivals and venues including White Nights, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Moomba, MEMO Music Hall, Macedon Music, Manningham Music, Stonnington Flavours Festival, Victorian Senior's Festival, Melba Hall, Geelong Grammar, The Boite, Melbourne Town Hall, Chapel Off Chapel and Melba Spiegeltent.

They are regular performers at the Paris Cat Jazz Club and Melbourne Recital Centre (Salon).

Ruth travelled to St Petersburg to perform her compositions with Russia’s Remolino Ensemble and Ruth has performed in Switzerland and England as well as touring Italy and Germany with Tango Noir.

"Like watching Marlene Deitrich ... its music that’s sort of underrepresented anywhere in the world. Ruth was just an engaging, storytelling front person. The audience loved it and the musicians were just so compatible.” Billy Pinnell (on PBS FM)

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Ruth Roshan & Tango Noir

Their self-titled debut album was released in August 2009, featuring fresh arrangements of classic pieces by Astor Piazzolla, contemporary tango adaptations of Leonard Cohen and Macy Gray, plus Ruth's own original compositions for the genre.

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Darling ... Keep it to Yourself

Their second all original album, "Darling ... Keep it to Yourself", uses the rhythms of the cabaret, the Tango, the Habanera, the Waltz, to infuse the album with an atmosphere of 1930s Berlin.

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Stories of Love and Regret

Their third, original album, "Stories of Love and Regret". Influenced by European tango and waltz, evoking the atmosphere of a 1930’s French Salon, this recording combines lush arrangements with Ruth’s bittersweet lyrics to create music which is both elegant and beautiful, new and nostalgic all at the same time. The album was CD of the week or equivalent on at least 7 radio stations, a finalist in the Music Victoria Awards. In 2021 a track was a finalist in Madeby (National composition and choreography competition) and, as such, has been distributed for use in the Royal Academy of Dance.

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Ruth Roshan & Chamber Noir

Ruth Roshan’s fourth original album, Suite Noir, transports listeners through moonlit scenes of waltzes on cobblestones and rain drenched embraces. It conveys the beauty and excitement of a live recording of world class musicians.
Suite Noir, features an expansion of her longstanding Tango inspired quintet to chamber orchestra size (Ruth Roshan & Chamber Noir). Recorded at the ABC’s Iwaki auditorium and with soloists including Amir Farid (piano), Ben Opie (oboe), Sarah Curro (violin), Philip Arkinstall (clarinet) and Phil Carroll (accordion).
The opening track “You Like It” was nominated for the Marvin Hamlisch international classical composition award (2023).

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