Diamanda Galas (29th. August 1955) is an American performance artist, vocalist, pianist and composer and one of the most interesting spirits on the contemporary art scene. Her talent, intense training and powerful voice, which has a three and a half octave range, has made her one of the most greatest singers America has ever produced.
Susan McClary (1991) writes that Galás, "heralds a new moment in the history of musical representation," after describing her thus: "Galás emerged within the post-modern performance art scene in the seventies... protesting... the treatment of victims of the Greek junta, attitudes towards victims of AIDS... Her pieces are constructed from the ululation of traditional Mediterranean keening...whispers, shrieks, and moans."
Her work varies from experimental, electronic music from hell, using her voice in a rather demonic play where she seems to imitate glossolalia, all the way to jazz and blues.
