About us

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

Ane Ta Abia -
Asia TOPA 2025

Created by AAO Artistic Director Aaron Choulai and featuring Papua New Guinea’s Tatana Village choir - Ane Te Abia celebrates Motuan choral traditions of Peroveta (from Choulai’s home village), paired with the distinct sounds of the Australian Art Orchestra.
Saturday March 8th, 2025 - 8PM
Commissioned by Asia TOPA / Arts Centre Melbourne

More Info

**Adam Manning announced as 2024/25 First Nations Artist in Residence**

The AAO is thrilled to welcome Adam Manning as the fourth recipient of this program across 2024 and 2025, in partnership with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Manning will develop a work with support from the MIJF and AAO to premiere at the 2025 Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

Read More

**Announcing:** AAO Shinjuku Pit Inn 3 Days (Tokyo)

For the first time, the AAO will perform three concerts in Tokyo this November in residency at the iconic Shinjuku Pit Inn.
Presenting recent works across 3 performances, we’re excited to restage *Raw Denshi* (featuring Japanese hip-hop luminaries Kojoe and Hikaru Tanaka), a second performance of *Tooni* (featuring and composed by our First Nations Artist in Residence, award-winning Noongar woman and Naarm-based artist Bumpy), and selected core ensemble works, including *We 3D TVs* by Artistic Director Aaron Choulai and a re-arrangement of the legacy AAO work *Ringing the Bell Backwards* by founding AD Paul Grabowsky,
**Nov 28 - 30, Shinjuku Pit Inn. Tokyo, Japan - Music from 7PM**

More Info

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.

See All Releases

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.

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.

Kutcha Edwards and the Australian Art Orchestra

‘Wuigada – Gagada (To Sing – Loud)’ is the premiere of a new work 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.

See All projects

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.

Pathfinders Music Leadership Program

The Pathfinders program is designed to provide an opportunity to gain an insight into what is required to run a successful music ensemble, and to gain experience and skills to prepare the Associate Artist for future artistic leadership roles.

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