Shimmer’s music is earthy, urban and upbeat. An eclectic mix of colours and atmospheres created by blending panpipes, low whistle, flute, clarinet and tin whistle with guitar, piano, djembe, bass and three-part vocal harmonies.

For the past six years Shimmer, while based in Sydney, have played various venues around Sydney and festivals including The Basement, Woodford Folk Festival (Emerging Artists 2001), Wollombi Festival, the Winter Magic Festival (Blue Mountains), fund raising events for the Wilderness Society, Palm Sunday Peace rally’s, the 60^th birthday celebrations for the United Nations in 2005, and recently Rock the Block in Redfern.

Shimmer's second album Beautiful World highlights the depth of insight and musicality evident in their unique and beautiful music.

Shimer was at the Vic on the Park in Enmore for a period of three months, and the FBI radio has chosen to include their album in their play lists on Saturday mornings.

The musicians in Shimmer are:

Susan Andrews (guitar, voice, low whistle, flute, piano, bass) has performed in jazz improvisation groups, vocal ensembles, piano bars, and guitar duos and as a soloist for many years. She has studied Er Hu in Hong Kong and Bansori in India. The musical influence from her years travelling is evident in her music.

Vanessa Forbes (panpipes, tin whistle, flute, guitar, vocals) has been playing flute with Sydney bands since arriving in Australia from New Zealand eight years ago. She has travelled extensively and learnt tin whistle playing with street players in Africa.

Paul-Anthony Haller (djembe, vocals, guitar) began his musical career when he sneaked into a band during compulsory military training in South Africa, preferring a drum to a gun. With his freedom he travelled through South America accompanying a street theatre group. Paul currently runs drumming workshops in Sydney.

Ali Maak (clarinet, guitar, bass) is a professional artist from Germany. When he is not painting film sets in various corners of the world he joins us to add the atmospheric sounds of his clarinet.

Comments on a few of the songs:

Take My Hand: About unconditional love, offering support to someone who has retreated from the world.

Illusions: About a series of beautiful experiences while in love for a very short time. Like a string of photographs, precious moments. Grateful to feel it, rather than being devastated by the loss as he flew home.

Beautiful World: An affirmation that despite all the violence that people have created, it is meant to be a beautiful world. When in the wilderness it becomes clearer that it is a beautiful world, that all we need has been given to us.

Plastic Daffodils: Presents the surrealism of sad words with happy music—like in cartoons.

Spirit Child: About a teenager with learning difficulties, from Zaire. Saw her father shot by white police. Mother came to London for safety. Child stayed with grandparent. When she came to school she was terrified. Susan was her one-on-one teacher two days a week. Eventually the child joined the classes instead of roaming the corridors. She learnt some English but spoke Lingala.

The opening to this song is “He’s got the whole world in His hands” in Lingala, taught to Susan by a woman who had been a missionary in Zaire. Susan taught this song to the whole school (65 children all with special needs).

Eventually the young child would sing it on assembly with a microphone. She had large shining eyes with amazing depth.