Creative Music Intensive International: Yogyakarta 2026
Expressions of Interest now open
CMI International: Yogyakarta is a seven-day international residency for emerging improvising and contemporary musicians, hosted in partnership with Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta, one of Indonesia’s leading arts institutions.
Part of the longstanding AAO Creative Music Intensive professional development program, the residency brings together eight selected Australian musicians with AAO artists and ISI students for an intensive program of ensemble sessions, lecture-masterclasses and workshops.
Led by Aaron Choulai, Adrian Sherriff, Miyama McQueen and Adam Manning, the program centres around the question “how does tradition inform contemporary music practise?”.
Participants will collaborate closely with students at ISI Yogyakarta while exploring new approaches to improvisation, informed by both intercultural practice and contemporary applications of traditional instruments.
Alongside the residency program, participants will attend performances at the internationally renowned ARTJOG Festival, and engage with the city’s vibrant cultural scene - from traditional gamelan and contemporary experimental music to independent galleries, artist-run spaces and nearby historic sites.
“The Creative Music Intensive is a safe space for musicians across cultures to bring their whole selves to a common meeting point, leaving egos and inhibitions behind to embrace the unknown. In this learning environment we conversed in our respective musical languages, exchanged ideas, learned new concepts and dared to push the metaphorical and physical boundaries of our music and our instruments.”
– Bhairavi Raman, CMI 2020 Alum
About the Creative Music Intensive
The Creative Music Intensive is the Australian Art Orchestra’s flagship professional development program for early-career improvising musicians. Since its inception, the program has supported more than 250 emerging artists through immersive residencies focused on collaboration, experimentation and intercultural exchange.
Originally held in Tarraleah, Tasmania, the program has also expanded through a number of satellite residencies, both within Australia and abroad.
Creative Music Intensive International continues this thread, connecting emerging Australian artists with one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic artistic communities.
Read on for more information about the Expression of Interest and how to apply.
How to apply
The EOI process should take most applicants no more than 20 minutes via the linked Google Form. The cost of this year’s CMI is $2250 + GST - a deposit will be required only upon acceptance of a place.
2026 key dates
CMI International will take place Sunday 14th to Monday 22nd June (inclusive of travel)
Applications close Sunday April 26th, 11:59PM AEST
Successful applicants will be notified by Wednesday April 29th
“Being somewhere far,
And be close to the ones from far away.
Getting in touch with the furthest part of your inner side,
And Listen.
That’s where you hear and be able to purely FEEL!”– Maryam Rahmani, 2022 CMI Alum (Nexus Arts Scholarship recipient)
