The Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) is one of Australia's leading contemporary ensembles. Founded by pianist

Paul Grabowsky Paul Atherstone Grabowsky (born 27 September 1958) is an Australian pianist and composer. Biography Born in Lae, Papua New Guinea, Grabowsky is a pianist and composer of music for film, theatre and opera. His father Alistair had lived in Papu ...

in 1994, it has been led by composer/trumpeter/sound artist Peter Knight since 2013 and led by pianist/composer/producer Aaron Choulai since 2023. The Orchestra explores relationships between musical disciplines and cultures, imagining new musical concepts that reference how 21st century Australia responds to its cultural and musical history. The AAO regularly tours both in Australia and internationally.

History

With Paul Grabowsky

The intention of the Australian Art Orchestra's work has always been to playfully explore the balance between avant-garde and traditional Jazz forms, allowing the incorporation of diverse influences to reference the importance this plays in the history of jazz. The AAO began as a contemporary jazz orchestra but early on developed distinctive cross-cultural collaborations. These included ''Into the Fire'' and ''The'' ''Chennai Tapes''. In 1996 the Australian Art Orchestra first collaborated with one of South India's most significant musicians,

mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

virtuoso Kaaraikkudi R Mani in India. In 1999 this collaboration created ''Into the Fire'', a piece bridging Australian and Indian traditions arranged for the orchestra by Adrian Sherriff. This piece was released on CD in 2000 on ABC classics. The association with Kaaraikkudi R Mani became a long-term project that toured all over the world, becoming an Australian world music collaboration. This partnership also produced the album, ''The'' ''Chennai Tapes'' and touring group,''Two Oceans''. Arguably, the collaboration between Mani and AAO developed a completely original style of music, a meeting between the Carnatic tradition and Western jazz. In 1997 the AAO drew inspiration from J.S. Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

''. Originally, five Australian Art Orchestra composers, Doug de Vries, Paul Grabowsky, John Rodgers, Niko Schauble and Alister Spence, were tasked to interpret five movements from the Bach original. Their compositions reimagined Bach's work rather than adapted it. ''Passion'' continues to progress and evolve for the AAO. Orchestra collaborators

Ruby Hunter Ruby Charlotte Margaret Hunter (31 October 195517 February 2010), also known as Aunty Ruby, was an Aboriginal Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist, and the life and musical partner of Archie Roach . Early life Ruby Hunter was born on 31 ...

and

Archie Roach Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Western Bundjalung people, Bundjalu ...

were commissioned by the 2005 Festival de Mexico Centro Historico to compose and perform three love songs to add to the ''Passion'' composition. Another movement was commissioned in 2014 by Soundstreams in Toronto who asked

Nicole Lizée Nicole Lizée (born April 7, 1973) is a Canadian composer of contemporary music. She was born in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan and received a MMus from McGill University. She lives in Montreal, Quebec. At one time, she was a member of The Besna ...

to expand the piece with her own interpretation for ''Passions Canadian premiere with a work called Hymns to ''Pareidolia''. The piece ''Testimony'' composed by Sandy Evans in 1995, was successfully transformed into a stage show by The Australian Art Orchestra in 2002. The composition is about the life of Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker and follows an epic poem by

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winner

Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (born James William Brown; April 29, 1941) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for ''Neo ...

. The Australian Art Orchestra record label was founded in 2008. In 2004 Grabowsky began a collaboration with

and

, two musicians whose life stories inspired ''

Ruby's Story ''Ruby'' is a soundtrack album recorded live by Australian singers Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter with Paul Grabowsky and Australian Art Orchestra. The album, based on a musical production called ''Ruby's Story'' staged in 2004, was released in 200 ...

''. Ruby was taken away from he family as a child, only learning of her aboriginal heritage when reading a picture-book at school about Captain Cook. She spent time living on the streets and met fellow musician Archie at a

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

centre in Adelaide. The compositions explore these themes and the redemption they found in each other when they met, concluding with them travelling back to Ruby's country beside the Murray to raise a family. Tracks from the CD ''

Ruby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sa ...

'' still often play on Australian radio and the album receives good reviews. ''

'' was the first release on the Australian Art Orchestra record label. Other cross-cultural collaborations include ''The Theft of Sita'' with musicians from Indonesia premiering the piece at Melbourne Festival on 1 November 2000. ''Theft of Sita'' is a retelling of the epic Sanskrit legend ''The Ramayana'' and draws on Balinese shadow puppetry. This project toured all over the world and vastly increased the AAO's following. ''Crossing Roper Bar'' was created with musicians from

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

from 2005. This linking of jazz traditions with such a venerable ancient culture was considered revolutionary. A recording was made in Alan Eaton Studio, St Kilda in 2009, during a Melbourne residency, following many live performances of the piece. There was an official tour featuring Benjamin Wilfred and the Young Wagilak Group in 2010, when the CD was released on the AAO label. The goal of the project was to inspire a wider audience to look into the traditions of their ancestors, the original people of Australia in the hope of inspiring respectful engagement.

With Peter Knight

Since Grabowsky's departure the Australian Art Orchestra has developed an even more contemporary style under Peter Knight's direction. Knight has instigated collaborations with international composers, including iconic American composer

Alvin Lucier Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in Mi ...

, Canadian composer Nicole Lizée and Japanese composer Keiichiro Shibuya. The development of the Orchestra's collaborations with Australian indigenous musicians, and musicians from Asia has continued under Knight's direction receiving critical acclaim. The Australian Art Orchestra has also drawn significant praise for its ground breaking ''Creative Music Intensive'' program which brings musicians from around the world together in

Tarraleah Tarraleah is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Central Highlands in the Central LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about north-west of the town of Hamilton. The 2016 census has a population of nil for the state subu ...

, in the

Tasmanian Central Highlands The Tasmanian Central Highlands is an interim Australian bioregion located in central highlands region of Tasmania, comprising . See also * Ecoregions in Australia * Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia * Regions of Tasmania ...

, to share ideas about collaborating musically across cultures. This program was initiated by Peter Knight in 2014 and its first iteration was in

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. In 2022, Australian Art Orchestra was acknowledged with a National Luminary AMC/APRA Art Music Award. In 2016 the Creative Music Intensive was nominated for the AMC Art Music Award for Excellence in Music Education. In the same year the AAO premiered Peter Knight's, ''Diomira'', which was also nominated for an AMC Art Music Award for Instrumental Work of the Year. The piece went on to win the 2016 Albert H. Maggs Composition Award. In 2017 Diomira was extended to a full length concert work with video by artist, Scott Morrison, and premiered as part of the Melbourne Festival. ''Water Pushes Sand'' merged Jazz and Sichuan folk music styles and featured Zheng Sheng Li, a Sichuan ‘face changing’ dancer along with four other musicians from Cheng Du in Sichuan, and five AAO musicians. Composer

Erik Griswold Erik Griswold (born 1969) is an American-born, Australian-based composer and pianist from Brisbane. Career Griswold began playing piano at the age of five, and has cited his early influences as Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartok, and Miles Davis, a ...

and percussionist

Vanessa Tomlinson Vanessa Tomlinson (born 1971) is an Australian percussionist, composer, artistic director and educator. She is Director of Creative Arts Research Institute and Head of Percussion at Griffith University and has produced 150 publications. She is ...

(together known as ''Clocked Out'') spent 15 years researching Sichuan's music and culture before this work was created. The world premiere of ''Water Pushes Sand'' was at OzAsia Festival in 2015. A full house show at Arts Centre Melbourne as a part of

Melbourne Festival Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...

2015 followed. The CD, released in 2016 was nominated for ‘2016 Jazz Work of the Year’ at the APRA/AMC Art Music Awards and an ''ARIA Award for Jazz Work of the Year'', receiving positive reviews in the media. In 2017 ''Water Pushes Sand'' toured Australia including

Darwin Festival The Darwin Festival, founded as the Bougainvillea Festival in 1979 and named Festival of Darwin from 1996 to 2002, is an annual arts festival in Darwin, Northern Territory. It celebrates the multicultural aspects of the Northern Territory lifest ...

Notable performances

1997

* Methodist Ladies College Music Auditorium, Melbourne

1998

* Adelaide Festival of the Arts, Adelaide

1999

Melbourne Town Hall Melbourne Town Hall is the central city town hall of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is a historic building in the state of Victoria since 1867. Located in the central business district on the northeast corner of the intersection between S ...

, Melbourne, Performance of ''Passion''

2001

* Sydney Festival,

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, Performance of ''Passion''

2005

* Festival de Mexico Centro Historico, Mexico, Performance of ''Passion''

2007

* Castlemaine State Festival, Performance of ''Passion''

2008

* Artshouse, North Melbourne Town Hall, Performance of ''Passion''

2009

* In March the AAO performed ''Ringing the Bell Backwards'' at Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre to correspond with the release of a remastered recording of this piece * In April the AAO performed ''Passion'' at Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne * In August the AAO performed ''Ruby’s Story'' at the Civic Centre, Wagga Wagga, NSW * Also in August the AAO and the Young Wagilak Group performed ''Crossing Roper Bar'' at Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre * On September 22 the AAO and the Young Wagilak Group performed ''Crossing Roper Bar'' at the APRA Classical Music Awards as winners of the 2009 Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music in a Regional Area Award at the Playhouse Theatre, Sydney * In October the AAO and The Sruthi Laya Ensemble featuring Karaaikkudi Mani performed ''Into The Fire'' on a tour of Australia, which played at two major concerts, in Melbourne at the Recital Centre followed by special VIP functions at both the Melbourne Recital Centre and the National Gallery of Victoria; and in Brisbane, Griffith University Recital Hall. This was followed by a five-day residency at Griffith University in Queensland, marking the release of ''The Chennai Sessions'' CD * Also in October the AAO and special guests Marc Hannaford and Ken Eadie performed Scott Tinkler's ''Folk'' at Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre

2014

* Toronto Soundstreams. Performance of ''Passion'', and world premiere performance of new work by Nicole Lizée (Montreal) commissioned by Soundstreams * Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts performances of Crossing Roper Bar * Melbourne Recital Centre. World premiere of new work by Brett Thompson, ''Atlas, Herbal and Ritual'' commissioned by AAO * Malthouse Theatre ''20Up'' 20th Anniversary Concert featuring works from AAO 20-year history plus world premiere of new work by Austin Buckett, Virtuoso Pause, commissioned by AAO. Live broadcast ABC Classic FM

2015

* MONA FOMA (Tasmania) Performances of Crossing Roper Bar * Jazzahead Bremen (Germany). Market showcase of Crossing Roper Bar * Chengdu China. Creative development and concerts for Water Pushes Sand * OzAsia Festival. Water Pushes Sand world premiere * Melbourne Festival performances and album recording Water Pushes Sand * Wangaratta Jazz Festival with Dave Douglas and Monash Art Ensemble

2016

* Sydney Festival, Exit Ceremonies new works for pipe organ and mixed ensemble with

Ensemble Offspring Ensemble Offspring is an Australian music ensemble. The group is led by artistic director Claire Edwardes, and features some of Australia's most innovative performers. The group has toured to locations such as Hong Kong, London and Warsaw, are r ...

featuring new work by Austin Buckett commissioned by AAO * Melbourne Town Hall Exit Ceremonies featuring new work by Alvin Lucier commissioned by AAO * Metropolis New Music Festival opening concert featuring Nicole Lizée including new works from Lizée and Peter Knight commissioned by AAO

2017

* Water Pushes Sand Darwin Festival * Diomira by Peter Knight, Melbourne Festival *

OzAsia OzAsia Festival, or simply OzAsia, is an Asia-focused arts festival in South Australia, presented by the Adelaide Festival Centre for two weeks in late October to early November each year. It features theatre, dance, music, film and visual a ...

''Meeting Points'', including works by Keiichiro Shibuya (Japan),

Mindy Meng Wang Mindy is an English feminine given name, originally a diminutive of Melinda. Notable people with the name include: People * Mindy Aloff, American editor, journalist, essayist, and dance critic * Mindy Baha El Din (1958-2013), American-born Egypti ...

(China/Australia), Daniel Wilfred (

) and Bael Il Dong (Korea). * Sydney Festival, ''Sex, Lynch, and Video Games''. The screen works of Nicole Lizée (Canada), featuring Nicole Lizée

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

Australian Music Centre

! , - , 2013 , Australian Art Orchestra , AMC/APRA Art Music Award Performance of the Year , , , - , 2014 , Australian Art Orchestra , AMC/APRA Art Music Award for Excellence by an Organisation , , , - , 2016 , Australian Art Orchestra , Art Music Award nomination for Excellence in Music Education , , , - , 2016 , Australian Art Orchestra , Excellence in Music Education , , , - , 2017 , Australian Art Orchestra , Instrumental Work of the Year , , , -

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, ''Ringing the Ball Backwards'' , rowspan="4", Best Jazz Album , , rowspan="4", ARIA Award previous winners. , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, ''Into the Fire'' (with Sruthi Laya Ensemble) , , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, ''Water Pushes Sand'' , , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, ''Closed Beginnings'' (with Reuben Lewis, Tariro Mavondo & Peter Knight) , , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, ''Hand to Earth'' (with Daniel Wilfred, Sunny Kim, Peter Knight & Aviva Endean) ,

ARIA Award for Best World Music Album The ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Music Award for Best World Music Album, is an award presented within the Fine Arts Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was inaugurated in ARIA Music Awards of 1995, 1995 as Best Folk/World/Traditional Release. ...

, ,

Australian Jazz Bell Award

! , - , 2003 , Australian Art Orchestra , Jazz Ensemble of the Year , , , - , 2011 , Australian Art Orchestra , Jazz Ensemble of the Year , , , -

Classical Music Awards

! , - , 2009 , Australian Art Orchestra , Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music in a Regional Area , , , -

Helpmann Awards

! , - , 2005 , Australian Art Orchestra , Helpmann Award , , , -

Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards

! , - , 2010 , Australian Art Orchestra , Group Award , , , -

References

External links

Australian Art Orchestra official web site
{{Authority control Australian world music groups Australian jazz ensembles Experimental big bands Musical groups established in 1994 Organisations based in Melbourne 1994 establishments in Australia