Over the past 35 years, Diamanda Galas' socially and politically charged performance history and discography has tackled challenging subjects ranging from the AIDS epidemic to Turkish prison torture. A gifted piano player with a 3 1/2 octave vocal range, Galas honed her chops throughout the 1970s in the improv scenes of Los Angeles and San Diego before rising to prominence with the debut of her quadraphonic sound piece Wild Women with Steak Knives (1980). She found a home on Mute Records and has since built up an astounding discography of solo and collaborative work (including 1994's The Sporting Life with John Paul Jones), not to mention an accomplished repertoire of covers and standards. Besides Wild Women with Steak Knives, Galas has presented three works at The Kitchen, most recently Defixiones, Will and Testament in December of 1999. For more information, please visit: http://diamandagalas.com/