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Learn more about the Australian Art Orchestra and what we do.

AusArt Day

2025

AusArt Day, on Thursday 23 October, is Australia’s first giving day for the arts.

Australian Art Orchestra is participating in AusArt Day 2025 and will be raising funds for our new Composer in Residence Program in partnership with TarraWarra Museum of Art.

Via application, a selected composer will be commissioned to create a new work for AAO, inspired by the exhibited and archived works on site at the Museum - created by some of Australia's most celebrated contemporary visual artists. The successful applicant will also have access to on-site accommodation at TarraWarra for a period of up to 3 weeks, and will see their work premiered at the Eva & Marc Besen Centre by the Australian Art Orchestra.

This is your opportunity to contribute to securing the funding for this commission.

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Adam Manning

and AAO

perform at

New Annual and MIJF

The Australian Art Orchestra will feature at the 2025 New Annual Festival and Melbourne International Jazz Festival with First Nations Artist in Residence Adam Manning’s work First Rhythms.

Reimagining the ancient resonance of clapsticks through a contemporary lens, First Rhythms brings together traditional percussive elements, modern instrumentation, improvisation, and multimodal visual art. At the heart of the work is an Indigenous understanding that everything is alive and carries a pulse—the heartbeat of Country

First Rhythms will feature the dynamic interplay of some of Australia’s top improvising musicians, creating an experience that’s as technically masterful as it is culturally resonant. The work offers deep insight into the ongoing relevance and application of First Nations knowledge systems in contemporary art forms, demonstrating how rhythm can act as a bridge between ancestral memory and present-day creative practice.

First Rhythms will be presented at Harold Lobb Concert Hall in Newcastle on Thursday 2 October at 7:30pm and Melbourne Recital Centre on Sunday 19 October at 7pm.

Info and Tickets

Latest Releases

Featured

Swing Bridge; Sizzles

Bringing together two never before recorded works by the late, great Alvin Lucier and featuring an AAO commission for the legendary Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ.

The Prey And The Ruler

An international collaboration focusing on radical possibility that features Yogyakarta based experimental collective, Senyawa, released on Brisbane based label, Room 40.

Hand to Earth

A call to open ears: eluding genre, traversing continents and fusing ancient and contemporary. At its heart are Yolgnu manikay (song cycles), a 40,000+ year-old oral tradition from South East Arnhem Land.

Closed Beginnings

Ground-breaking music that lands like a gut punch. An inspired sonic journey that draws the listener close to the beauty of the moment in these fast changing times featuring Zimbabwean/Australian spoken word artist, Tariro Mavondo.

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Latest Projects

Featured

Ane Ta Abia

Ane Ta Abia - Aaron Choulai, Australian Art Orchestra and the Tatana Village Choir. Experience a stunning choral concert bringing together musicians and singers from Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Kutcha Edwards and the Australian Art Orchestra

‘Wuigada – Gagada (To Sing – Loud)’ is a collaboration with iconic Australian and First Nations singer-songwriter, Kutcha Edwards. Reimagined for the AAO, this performance celebrates the songs of country, history, pain and joy expressed in Kutcha Edward’s repertoire, and creates space for experimentation by some of Australia’s most creative voices of jazz and improvisation.

Straight Up and Down

SUAD presents three new commissioned works, pushing the boundaries of musical innovation and celebrating the originality, creativity, and diversity of Australian improvisers. In an innovative collaboration, each performance will unfold at Melbourne's iconic outdoor container bar, Section 8.

SHUFFLE-PLAY

A program of newly written works celebrating the Coburg Town Hall Organ, exploring the sonic and spatial potentials of the Coburg Town Hall – from inside the organ itself, to the upper balcony.

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Latest Pathways

Featured

First Nations Artist Residency PrograM

Presented in partnership between the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) and The Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF), the First Nations Artist Residency Program is an artistic and professional development initiative that supports the career development of a First Nations musician with a practice in jazz, improvisation, hip-hop, singer-songwriter, or contemporary art music and its composition.

Creative Music Intensive

The Creative Music Intensive is an immersive practice-based residency for artists to explore musical cultures and practices, and to gain knowledge that strengthens artistic expression.

Regional Mentorship: Expanding Fields of Practice

Expanding Fields of Practice is a professional development program for regional musicians, composers, creators and curators that has been developed by Punctum and Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) to offer a regionally based pathway, mentored by regional industry professionals of renown, with partners and local industry support.

See All Pathways