Lou Bennett (musician) facts for kids

Lou Bennett is a talented Indigenous Australian musician, actress, and academic. She spends her time researching and helping to bring back Aboriginal languages.

Early Life and Learning

Lou Bennett is a proud Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman. Her family comes from Echuca, a town in Victoria, Australia.

In October 2015, Lou finished her PhD at RMIT University. Her special project was all about bringing back and saving Aboriginal languages. Her big paper was called "Sovereign Language Repatriation."

Lou Bennett's Career

Lou Bennett started her music journey with her uncle's band, "The Shades." Later, she joined Richard Frankland's band, "Djaambi." This is where she met Sally Dastey and Amy Saunders. These three talented women then formed a band called Tiddas. Tiddas even won an Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Award!

After Tiddas stopped performing together in 2000, Lou started a new band called Sweet Cheeks. She also became a stage actor. One of her special shows was called Show Us Your Tiddas!. In this show, Lou shared stories from her own life. She talked about her first live performance and moving to the city.

Lou was also a part of The Black Arm Band. This is a group that performs amazing music and stories. She helped lead the group, wrote music, and sang with them. She helped direct and perform in their show Dirtsong. This show was first performed in 2009 at the Melbourne International Arts Festival. The songs in Dirtsong were written by Alexis Wright. Some of these songs were even sung in Aboriginal languages.

In 2012, Lou also sang for the Australian movie The Sapphires. She had also been involved with the stage play of The Sapphires back in 2004.

Awards and Special Recognition

Lou Bennett has received many special awards for her work. In 2017, she was added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. This is a list of amazing women from Victoria. The University of New England also invited her to give a special talk in 2018. It was called the Frank Archibald Memorial Lecture.

In 2019, Lou was given the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) award. This award recognized her important contributions to music and to the Indigenous community. At the 2023 Art Music Awards, Lou won an award for her song nyernur nyarkur (which means "to see, to hear"). The Omega Ensemble and Lou Bennett performed this song together.

Theatre Performances

Lou Bennett has performed in several theatre productions:

• Magpie (2000) with Melbourne Workers Theatre
• Conversations with the Dead (2001) with Ilbijerri Theatre, Playbox, and La Mama
• Yanagai! Yanagai! (2003) with Melbourne Workers Theatre and Playbox
• The Sapphires (2004) with Melbourne Theatre Company
• Show Us Your Tiddas! (2007) with Melbourne Workers Theatre
• Our Home Our Land (2011) with Boites 2009 Millennium Chorus

See also

In Spanish: Lou Bennett (música) para niños