FIRST PERSON

ELLY HOYT VOCALIST

I was happiest when ... I was riding my horse through the bush. You wouldn’t know it but ... I was 17 when I left Tasmania and have never lived here as an adult. The last time I cried was ... when I watched the 2015 romantic comedy Miss You Already. I was sobbing copious amounts of tears. The last book I read was ...

Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobbs. I really want to ... keep making music, keep sharing knowledge and just be a good person. My guilty pleasure is ... reading fantasy novels. I could spend days just reading. Life has taught me ... to be honest, to find balance in everything I do, that career isn’t everything and to not waste your energy on some people. I’m about to ... record a project called the Composer’s Voice: Celebrating Australian Women Composers. Exceptional composers including Gian Slater, Andrea Keller, Kristin Berardi and Shannon Barnett are involved. If you haven’t heard of them, check the project out My first job was ... picking horse poo from the paddock and sweeping the stairs. My most memorable work-related moment was … singing one of my own songsl with James Morrison at Riverstage at Brisbane’s Botanic Gardens in front of a few thousand people. At the time, one of my close friends, aged 29, had just been given a few weeks to live. It was surreal and intense but so memorable. I sang my heart out that night.

Hear Elly Hoyt performing at the Jazz Lounge at Rosny Farm as part of this week’s Clarence Jazz Festival. Hoyt will accompany acclaimed musicians Sandy Evans on sax and Andrea Keller on piano. Doors open at 6.30pm. Tickets $25. To book, visit clarenceartsandevents.net