Artists
Nela Trifkovic - vocals
Nela is a Bosnian/Australian musician who works across several music genres, as well as in the fields of theatre and interdisciplinary performance. She studied at WAAPA and VCA, where she obtained her doctorate in 2013. Nela formed SARAY Iluminado in 2013 driven by the desire to illuminate the lesser known genres of music heard in the Balkans including Sevdah and music of Sephardic Jewish diaspora. Above all else, Nela explores rituals of belonging through songs and remains committed to carving out spaces for those melodies to be heard, shared and re-imagined in contemporary Australia and globally.
Irine Vela - lauoto
Irine Vela is a composer, creative producer, musician and the Artistic Director of Outer Urban Projects. Irine’s work emphasises the validity, necessity and excitement that diverse voices and forms bring to the Australian arts. She has collaborated with many of Australia’s finest performers, writers, directors and theatre companies. Her work has conceptualised and enabled many fertile collaborations.
She also performs with I Viaggatori and is founding member of the haBiBis. Their CD Intoxication received an ARIA award for Best World Music Album.
Dan Witton - double bass
Dan Witton is a bassist, tubist and vocalist. He has worked as a composer and sound designer, music technician, teacher, soloist in theatre, radio, film projects and with ensembles such as cosmo cosmolino, jenny m thomas & the system, the wikimen, brunswick bluegrass collective, tania bosak, ennio morricone experience, the blue grassy knoll, and, since 2016, SARAY Iluminado.
Kelly Dowall - clarinet, ney, dayereh
Kelly is a Melbourne based multi-instrumentalist with a rich history of collaborating with diverse artists. Following a degree in Music at the University of Queensland, her deep interest in Middle Eastern and Balkan musical traditions has taken her to Greece and Turkey for further study of clarinet and ney.
Kelly has performed and recorded with many contemporary and traditional music groups and projects including The Resonant Heart, Gelareh Pour’s Garden, Love’s Universe Is Inside of You and The haBiBis.
Ernie Gruner -
violin, mandolin
Ernie Gruner is Australia’s leading klezmer violinist and teacher, with bands including Klezmeritis. He was musical director for the Jewish theatre show “Exile and Ecstasy” which included klezmer and Sephardic music. He has performed and recorded with Sephardic bands Soleluna and Melisma and was a member of Middle-Eastern ensemble Yalla!. Bohemian Nights duo is nearly 20 years old and includes Balkan, Turkish and Rrom repertoire. He was profiled in Seth Jordan’s book “World Music: Global Sounds in Australia”, as a significant contributor on the Australian world music scene.
Ernie met Nela while working on music for the La Mama show “Sarajevo Suite.”
Associate Artists
Saray Iluminado frequently collaborates with local and international artists from other disciplines.
In 2020, movement artist Israel Aloni joined the group for a period of experimental collaboration that culminated in the performance work 'Songs of Love and Exile' and an audio-visual album development.
In 2024, theatre makers Donna Dimovski-Kantarovski and Goran Ðurić joined the group for ongoing collaboration of multi-lingual music, poetry and prose titled Bruised River.