Running with Wild Horses

Siyavash Doostkhah is an artistic director and composer with over 30 years’ experience creating site-specific and interdisciplinary performance works. His practice integrates live performance, sound design, spoken word, and installation within immersive, cross-cultural storytelling frameworks.

Siyavash is the co-founder of Zemzemeh, a genre-defying duo, weaving Persian mysticism, traditional music, and ritual soundscapes into immersive experiences for stage, screen, and ceremony. Zemzemeh have presented their work at QPAC, GOMA’s Australian Cinematheque, BEMEC, and independent venues. He was a member of the AmphiSonics sound team who staged a large-scale spatial audio installation for 2022 World Science Festival Brisbane. His work Memory Loss spans decades of experimental composition, with their track, Manzelat receiving a High Commendation at the 2022 Queensland Music Awards.

Siyavash has led multiple site-responsive works for Brisbane Festival Fringe. He trained in electro-acoustic composition at the Queensland Conservatorium and continues research into Iranian mystical poetry and music.

Photo by Ange Costes Photography.

Greta Kelly is a musician and producer of cross-cultural large-scale music, theatre and site-specific installations. She plays shah kaman, violin, and theremini with live looping, and has collaborated with modal music masters for over 15 years.

She studied Sufi music in Iran with Ostad Zolfonoon and has returned for further study, performance, and workshops. Greta has produced and performed major multi-arts works with Human Symphony, Corrina Bonshek & Collaborators, DeepBlue, and Mzaza, touring nationally and internationally.

Her work has featured at Montreal First Peoples Festival, Expo 2025 Osakam, Brisbane Festival, Bleach Festival, DarkMofo, and the Lincoln Centre. She has represented projects at major arts markets including APAX, APAM, CINARS, and WOMEX. Greta is on the board of DeepBlue and a member of the Association of Artist Managers Australia.

Photo by Mana Photography

Kathryn Marquet is a playwright, dramaturge, actor, and facilitator, and Literary Manager at Playlab Theatre, where she has dramaturged over 50 works. Her play Aurochs won the 2024 Shane and Cathryn Brennan Prize and was shortlisted for the Patrick White Award.

Her works include Second Coming, The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek, and Pale Blue Dot, with productions and developments through Playlab, La Boite, and Queensland Theatre. She was a finalist for the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award (2016).

Kathryn also works as an actor across theatre, film, and television. She holds a Master of Playwriting and is completing a PhD at UQ.

Photo by Nick Morrissey.

Andrew Gibbs is a Brisbane-based video and sound artist specialising in immersive audiovisual performance, projection, and digital storytelling. Since 1999, he has created visuals for festivals, theatre productions, and music performances across Australia and internationally.

His practice spans live VJing, animation, and installation, with a focus on experimental and hybrid forms. In 2013, he founded the Centre for Audio Visual Experimentation (CAVE), a platform for workshops and creative development.

Andrew’s work is driven by collaboration and innovation, pushing beyond conventional audiovisual formats to create dynamic, immersive environments.

Dr Arash Zanganeh is a composer, percussionist, and musicologist with a PhD in Musicology and extensive experience in cross-cultural performance. He is director of the Sufi Art Group and founder of the Small World Music Ensemble.

His practice integrates Middle Eastern rhythmic traditions with Western and Celtic forms, informed by Sufi philosophy and ethnomusicological research.

Arash’s work combines traditional percussion, improvisation, and environmental sound, contributing to innovative, research-driven performance. In Running with Wild Horses, he leads rhythmic composition and musical direction, strengthening the work’s intercultural and narrative depth.

Photo by Christy Gallois.

Ben is an Australian percussionist, composer, and improviser working across jazz, experimental music, theatre, and cross-disciplinary performance. A First-Class Honours graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, he commenced his PhD in 2025 exploring The Art of Conduction.

His work focuses on collective improvisation, environmental sound, and story-driven performance, drawing from influences spanning jazz, folk, metal, and experimental music.

Ben has performed alongside internationally acclaimed artists and has received recognition through the Bell Awards, Queensland Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Freedman Jazz Award nominations. Since 2013, he has released over 20 albums and toured extensively throughout Australia and internationally

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Anna Yen is a performer, writer, and theatre maker working across physical theatre, storytelling, and performance. She was a finalist in the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award (2018/19) for Slow Boat and a writer/performer in The Serpent’s Table (Sydney Festival).

She received a Matilda Award for her solo work Chinese Take Away, which toured internationally following an SBS-commissioned film adaptation. The script is published by Playlab.

Anna’s practice integrates movement, voice, and narrative, supported by her work as a Feldenkrais Method practitioner and teacher. Her work explores identity, embodiment, and cross-cultural storytelling.

Photo by Luke Mayze.