Michelle Rounds
The Museum of Pacific and Oceanic Arts
SULUO DAUNIVALU ~ Riga, Latvia
(for Funding and Sponsorship opportunities kindly contact Mr Daunivalu directly)
The Museum of Pacific and Oceanic Arts is a museum art gallery of Pacific works in Riga, owned and operated by Suluo Daunivalu of the Tapa Foundation. It has a joint vision of uniting all aspects of the art scene on a global level. Music, dance, visual arts, mixed multi-media, electronic, photographic, motion picture and etc. To this extent we are using the services and established profiles of various individuals that we deem to have made significant contributions to the arts in terms of performance, education, mentoring …….. and whom we feel have substantial influence within the various fields and modalities that we are seeking to combine.
Michelle Rounds
One such individual is Australian-born Pacific Islander, Michelle Rounds, who has established herself as an international singer/songwriter, performer, recording artist, supporter of indigenous languages and an educator. She currently lives in Cairo with her Egyptian husband, Ali Garas, and they both travel extensively for concerts, mentoring, workshops, festivals etc
We are glad to have her on our team as she has a strong connection with the Australasian and Oceanic/Pacific regions (born and raised in her early years in Australia, schooled in Fiji) and has lived and worked in Japan for over 5 years where she has also forged lasting bonds with local musicians and organisations.
She assisted organising and hosting of the Cairo Jazz Festival (Egypt 2014-2018) and currently consults for the Amman Jazz Festival (Jordan 2018-present), taught English to refugees in Cairo as a volunteer and has a very clear vision regarding the oneness of humanity.
Meet The Team
For 2023 we have curated an itinerary for Michelle which includes Egypt, Japan, Australia and Fiji.
The Kansai Music Conference is to be held in Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe Japan from 6-8 Oct and we have registered Michelle and Ali to attend and perform representing Egypt in the Kansai area where the conference's efforts to increase awareness of gender equality issues will particularly feature more female artists. This initiative is the brainchild of Shalestone Music and we look forward to supporting their endeavors to develop and grow a global community of artists, fans and industry that introduces music & culture to Japan, and beyond; whilst supporting gender equality in the music industry. This fits with our current collaborative achievements and efforts to amalgamate the Pacific and Asia with the Middle East via the medium of jazz .... plus !
Further concerts are scheduled for Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Miyakonojyo and Fukuoka on Japan’s southern Kyushu island, where Michelle and Ali last visited for the Art-Plex Jazz Festival in 2018 and where Ali presented what was possibly the first and only Egyptian Sufi hymn to be witnessed in this rural area of Japan.
The next stops are Fiji and Australia to present voice workshops and encourage affiliation with IJD (International Jazz Day) - we are seeking individuals and organisations that are interested in creating and maintaining an annual jazz festival for Fiji - this takes dedication and commitment and we are here to support and mentor.
