Monash Art Ensemble

In this very special celebration of music, audiences will hear the premiere of new work, The Birdlife Suite, by critically-acclaimed North American pianist Kris Davis, and a collaborative composition by Australian jazz heavyweight Rob Burke and alto saxophonist Michael Kellett.

THE WORKS

The Birdlife Suite was commissioned by Monash University and composed by Kris Davis for the students of Monash. Davis received the commission during the pandemic when she was struggling with the ongoing isolation of the pandemic and felt creatively stagnant. Staring at a blank page, Davis sat silently in her studio, listening to the birds and their calls outside her window. She started improvising with the birds at the piano and then transcribing the bird songs, which ignited a creative spark and produced a series of initial sketches for the commission. Her love of Messiaen and his bird call pieces further inspired Davis to write a suite incorporating Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition.

The second work is inspired by the Greek mythology of the Argonauts and is a collaborative composition named Argo after the ship Jason and his band of 50 heroes sailed upon to retrieve the Golden Fleece. During the Argonauts’ voyage, the ship was rebuilt piece-by-piece until each part was eventually new, yet the ship still sailed under the same name. Motivated by this metaphor of human identity, Kellett & Burke use sonic scores and descriptive notation to translate this allegory into the musical domain. In doing so they seek to create a fluid work which evolves through each performance, contingent on the ensemble personnel and their improvisational sensibility. Each creative decision and each personality interweave to form the ever changing musical ship, Argo.

THE CONDUCTOR

Professor Paul Grabowsky AO, is a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor – and one of Australia’s most distinguished and influential artists. He has established a reputation as one of Australia’s leading jazz musicians, and has performed with many jazz luminaries including Chet Baker, Art Farmer and Johnny Griffin.

Hugely influential across the Australian entertainment and music landscape, Grawbowsky was Musical director of Tonight Live with Steve Vizard (1990-1992) and Commissioning Editor for ABC Television Arts and Entertainment (1996-1998). He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra, which he led from 1994-2013, and is a regular contributor and composer for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra season, recently as Musical Director for One Song: The Music of Archie Roach.

He has written the scores for over twenty feature film scores in Australia, the UK and US. His works for theatre include four operas and various multimedia works, and his input on the Australian contemporary music scene includes long-time collaborations with artists such as Paul Kelly, Ngaiire, Katie Noonan and Archie Roach.

He has won eight ARIA awards, two Helpmann awards, several APRA and Bell Awards and a Deadly award. He was the Sydney Myer Performing Artist of the Year in 2000, and received the Melbourne Prize for Music in 2007. He was the 2010 Australian National University H.C.Coombs Fellow. He was Artistic Director of the Queensland Music Festival from 2005-2007 and was Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival of Arts for 2010 and 2012.

He is currently a Professor at Monash University, and Executive Director of the Monash University Performing Arts Centres. In 2014 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to music and arts administration.

THE COMPOSERS

Guest composer Kris Davis is a Grammy award-winning pianist and composer described by The New York Times as a beacon for “deciding where to hear jazz on a given night.” Davis has released 23 recordings as a leader or co-leader and collaborated with artists such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Dave Holland, John Zorn, Craig Taborn, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey and Esperanza Spalding.

She was named a 2021 Doris Duke Artist alongside Wayne Shorter and Danilo Perez, Pianist of the Year by DownBeat Magazine in 2022 and 2020, and Pianist and Composer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2021. Davis is the Associate Program Director of Creative Development at the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and the founder of Pyroclastic Records. Davis is a Steinway Artist and will be introducing her composition via video.

Also composing is Michael Kellett whom has been playing the saxophone and composing music for over 17 years. Now a PhD candidate at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University, he has studied under the tutelage of some of Australia’s seminal improvisers and thinkers such as Rob Burke, Paul Williamson (Trumpet), Scott McConnachie and Mirko Guerrini. He’s research interest has focussed on networks and historiographies of improvisation and composition through arts-based inquiry and post-structuralist perspectives, and he has published in the fields of Australian improvisative musicality and equity in tertiary music pedagogy. As a composer, improviser and field recordist, Michael has most notably performed with Terri Lyne Carrington, recorded with Linda May Han Oh, co-released the acoustic album Pronoia (2020), worked as a film score composer, and is a founding member of the interdisciplinary arts collective Ac-ross Land, Bet-ween Water.

Lastly, commissioned composer Robert Burke is Associate Professor in Jazz and Popular Studies at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University of Melbourne. He holds a BMus and MA from the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne), and a PhD at Monash University where he studied with Professor Tony Gould. Robert has held the position of head of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music from 2011 – 2014 and was initiator and convenor of jazz and improvisation from 2002 – 2019. Robert is currently president of the Australasian Jazz and Improvisation Research Network (AJIRN).

Robert’s practice and research interests include composition, improvisation, human-machine relationships and gender studies in music. At the heart of Rob’s research lies the question: what happens when we improvise? His main research collaborators are Andrys Onsman and more recently Raymond MacDonald

An internationally acclaimed improvising performer and composer, Robert has released 16 CD’s under his own name and has composed and performed on a further 300 CD’s.  His sensitive and balanced perspective has allowed Rob to traverse many different styles and this has, in part, been expressed as collaborative performances with international leaders in classical, jazz and experimental music. His embrace of many genres of music and the clear expression of his diversity in his role as an educator, researcher and performer, has given rise to a vibrant dialect that resonates through his students and also his performances. Robert has also embarked on numerous musical collaborations within Australia and overseas and has established research, educational and artistic ties with institutions, researchers and musicians in Italy, USA (New York), Japan and Brazil. Collaborators include: Professor George Lewis, Columbia University – NYC; Professor Raymond MacDonald, Edinburgh University; Dave Douglas, USA; Enrico Rava, ITL; Hermeto Pascoal, Brazil; Kenny Werner, USA; Mark Helias, USA; Ben Monder, USA; Tom Rainey, USA; Tony Malaby, USA; Nasheet Waites, USA; George Garzone, USA; Paul Grabowsky; Tony Gould; Debasis Chakraborty, India; and Paulo Angeli (Italy).

THE MUSICIANS

Birdlife Suite (Davis)

Cassandra Gibson: Flute
Nicole Canham: Clarinet
Rob Burke: Soprano / Tenor Saxophone
Ash Ballat: Trumpet
William Jones: Trombone / Euphonium
Julian Ferraretto: Violin
Dan Mamrot: Guitar
Joe O’Conner: Piano
Simon Starr: Bass
Patrick Skarajew: Drums
Arwen Johnston: Percussion

Argo (Kellett & Burke)

Rhea John: Vox 1
Greta Williams: Vox 2
Ruby Glynn: Vox 3
Meg Pearson: Vox 4
Michael Kellett: Electronics & Saxophones
Robert Burke: Saxophones
Cassandra Gibson: Piccolo & Flute
Nicole Canham: Clarinet 1
Sibusisiwe Maswaure: Clarinet 2
Tristan Western: Clarinet 3
Hugh Blacket: Bass Clarinet
Ash Ballat: Trumpet
William Jones: Trombone
Julian Ferraretto: Violin
Su Min: Harp
Joe O’Conner: Piano
Arwen Johnston: Percussion
Simon Starr: Bass