Market St Commissions by Australian Art Orchestra

One ensemble, three composers: The Australian Art Orchestra presents Market St Commissions – a program of three new works composed for Australia’s finest improvisers.

Three prolific, up-and-coming composers—Jess Green (ACT), Joseph O’Connor (VIC) and Carolyn Schofield (VIC)—have developed new compositions for an 11-piece ensemble, breaking new ground for Australian Art Orchestra.

Jess Green seeks to energise the audience, and to “create a space for musicians to connect with each other and find these shimmery moments.” Jess is a guitarist, vocalist and composer. Based in Canberra, her composition and songwriting spans instrumental jazz, rock, indie pop and experimental music.

Joseph O’Connor considers the interaction between restraint and urgency, “exploring a greater emphasis on timbre and orchestration, using those things in a way that focuses in on intimacy and vulnerability.” Joe is a Melbourne based pianist and composer engaging with improvised, notated and experimental practices. His work currently explores a delicate harmonic sensibility that unfolds slowly in asymmetrical cycles.

Carolyn Schofield aka Fia Fiell draws upon a curiosity surrounding synesthesia and how others interpret visual rhythms. Schofield explains, “our whole experience of music is about creating meaning from abstract elements of sound. It makes sense to think about things in a synaesthetic way.” Vietnamese-Australian electronic/synth musician Carolyn Schofield, aka Fia Fiell, combines her profound practical and theoretical knowledge as a pianist/composer with a modern and perceptive ear for stretching out the orbit of millennial electronic music constructs.

Australian Art Orchestra
With an emphasis on improvisation, the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) explores the meeting points between disciplines and cultures, and imagines new musical forms to reflect the energy and diversity of 21st century Australia. The AAO constantly seeks to stretch genres and break down the barriers between disciplines, forms and cultures.