The Australian Art Orchestra was founded by Paul Grabowsky in 1994 and is one of Australia’s leading contemporary ensembles. Now led by daring composer/trumpeter/sound artist Peter Knight, its work constantly seeks to stretch genres and break down the barriers separating disciplines, forms and cultures. It explores the interstices between the avant-garde and the traditional, between art and popular music, between electronic and acoustic approaches, and creates music that traverse the continuum between improvised and notated forms.
The Orchestra first worked with Nicole Lizee in 2014 in Toronto and premiered a work commissioned by Soundstreams (Canada) called Hymns to Pareidolia, alongside a program including the Art Orchestra piece, Passion. Lizee’s distinctive approach caught the imagination of all involved and worked to the Art Orchestra’s unique strengths producing a performance that surprised and delighted the Toronto audience.
The Australian Art Orchestra line-up for this concert features some of Australia’s most distinctive musical voices and includes: Peter Knight trumpet/electronics, Nicole Lizee and Martin Ng turntables/electronics, Joe Talia drums/Revox/electronics, Vanessa Tomlinson percussion, Erkki Veltheim violin, Austin Buckett piano, Scott Tinkler trumpet, Adrian Sherriff trombone/bass trombone, and Gian Slater voice.