Australia's premier creative music ensemble

 
 
 

About us

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

APPLICATIONS OPEN -

FIRST NATIONS ARTIST

IN RESIDENCE

 

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

Applications close at 5pm AEST on Monday 28 July 2025

AAO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR APPOINTMENT

The AAO welcomes Sarah Wade to our organisation as the new Executive Director.

Sarah is an arts manager with a passion for music and the arts in community, and their powerful capacity to impact both society and individuals.

Sarah has worked across a range of leading organisations, including in program coordination roles at Melbourne Recital Centre, Wyndham City Arts & Culture, Woodend Winter Arts Festival, the National Institute of Circus Arts, and The Australian Ballet School. She has additionally held leadership and project management roles with CresFest and Boxwood Australia, and supported a roster of artists at Cinque Artist Management.

Sarah is excited to be joining the leadership team at AAO:

“The Australian Art Orchestra champions music-making of and for our modern Australia. It embraces a philosophy and musical approach that reflects our nation’s position and role in the Asia-Pacific, performing music that represents and reflects us all.

It is exciting to become part of this powerhouse team who imagine, cultivate and deliver aspirational, courageous programs and projects with innovation and cultural impact. It is incredible to be producing works that share Australian stories through the shared language of improvisation. It is significant to be doing so on country grounded in ancient, spiritual sovereignty - co-existing with narratives of migration and multi-culturalism.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute and grow with the small-to-medium arts sector and the creative music scene. I look forward to working with my new colleagues, board, partners, advocates, artists and audience to drive AAO’s vision with spirit and grace.”

Sarah Wade
Executive Director, Australian Art Orchestra

 Latest Releases

 
Featured
Swing Bridge; Sizzles
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
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
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
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.

 

Latest Projects

 
Featured
Ane Ta Abia
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
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
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
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.

 

 Latest Pathways

 
Featured
First Nations Artist Residency Program - APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN
First Nations Artist Residency Program - APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

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
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
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.