Ruth Roshan (mandolin, vocals) and Tania Ravbar Costantino (guitar, vocals) play original pieces and fresh arrangements of music from around the world, particularly from Spanish and South American traditions. Their music highlights the beauty and versatility of guitar and mandolin. They are Melbourne based and have an established reputation in Melbourne and Victoria. CDs “The range of music is entertaining and very listenable - some classical, some folk, some traditional but all good listening…A venerable pair of instruments in the hands of two most talented young women.” (Review on CD Collectables, 3MBS radio – August 2006) Ruth and Tania’s most recent double CD, Illusions, contains one CD of entirely original music, the other is interpretations of well known pieces. Nougat launched “Breathe” its second CD in late 2004. Nougat’s first (self titled) CD was released in 2000. Biographical Information Tania Ravbar Costantino is a guitarist and composer of exceptional ability. She has post graduate credentials from the Victorian College of the Arts and is an Australian Guitar Competition Winner (1990). As a student, Tania performed in master classes for international guitarists, evoking comments including: “I could hardly keep up with your fingers”. John Williams “It’s obvious you’re one of Australia’s leading guitarists”. Stepan Rak Ruth Roshan began learning the mandolin at the age of five – from Mrs Hullbrown in Warrnambool. She is a master mandolinist and has played mandolin professionally since a teenager. Whatever the style or tempo, Ruth will play with a great deal of musicality and with unique style, showing an often underrated instrument’s full potential. Ruth is also an accomplished singer with a gentle, sweet voice. Nougat “Live” Nougat concerts are enjoyed by music lovers and musicians alike. They focus on diversity and variety when deciding the pieces to be performed, adapting the repertoire to suit the venue and giving brief introductions when particular pieces or songs have an interesting history. Tania and Ruth very much enjoy performing live and patrons often comment on their smiles. Nougat has performed at many festivals and venues including National Folk Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Melbourne Town Hall, Melba Hall, Café Boite, Boite Winter Festival, Eltham World Harmonies; Mueller Hall (Royal Botanic Gardens) and Gippsland Acoustic Music Club. Musica Viva will include Nougat on their 2007 touring directory. Nougat on the Radio “It's a fortuitous thing that you two got together because in this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The sound that you make together is wonderful“ Derek Guille 774 ABC Tracks from Nougat's CDs are played regularly on radio stations including ABC Radio National (The Planet, the Music Show), 774 ABC FM (Derek Guille), ABC Classic FM, 3MBS, PBS (Global Village, The Boite), Italian Radio and numerous other community radio stations. Nougat was also featured as CD of the week on Mandozine (international mandolin magazine, and Mandozine Radio). Feedback (unsolicited) “I received you new CD (Illusions). Beautiful! Congratulations…Thank you for sharing your music with me, and I wish you much success. You have a beautiful voice, and I love your mandolin playing. Tania is a fabulous guitarist.” John Baxter, Mandozine “…My sincerest congratulations to you and your musical associate. The joy and delight, sheer delight is quite without measure … I listen and float, and my spirit and sometimes my body, dances and sings. Molto, molto Grazie!. Merci, merci beaucoup! Christine Ryan “I heard your CD on the ABC on Wednesday and ordered it straight away. It has been played over and over since I received it on Monday. I love the combination of guitar and mandolin. Do you play your mandolin in the standard tuning on all tracks … I keep wondering how you get certain sounds.” Alan Wood “I can’t thank you enough for this album. I received it today … I have many mandolin albums, but not enough like this one. This will take its place alongside my too small classical section that include; Marilyn Mair, Gertrude Troestor, Alison Stephens and Carlos Aonzo.” Cecil Webb “Thank you both for your music on Saturday ... It was wonderful to have such beautiful instrumental work in the program.” Therese Virtue (Boite) “This CD I received and it’s called “Breathe” and its a beautiful CD … I was playing it at home when I received it and I must have played it 5 times, one after the other so I was quite impressed by that – that’s my litmus test to see how the CD grows with me and it grew with me each time.” John Weeks (Spectrum FM) Website www.nougat.com.au has been active for several years and listed as a link on local and international mandolin and world music sites. The site is regularly updated “live” with concert details and other news as well as e-news to Nougat’s distribution list.