Paul Grabowsky

Piano, Composition

Paul Grabowsky is a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor and is one Australia’s most distinguished artists. He lived and worked in Europe and the US from 1980-85, and performed with many jazz luminaries including Chet Baker, Art Farmer and Johnny Griffin. He returned to Australia in 1986 and established a reputation as one of Australia's leading jazz musicians. He was musical director of the TV variety show Tonight Live with Steve Vizard from 1990-1992. He was Commissioning Editor (Arts and Entertainment) for Australian Broadcasting Commission television 1995-98. He has written the scores for over twenty feature film scores in Australia, the UK and US including 'Innocence' (Paul Cox), 'Last Orders', ‘The Eye of the Storm’,‘Words and Pictures’(Fred Schepisi) and 'Shiner' (John Irvin). His television credits include the series 'Phoenix' and 'Janus' and the Emmy-winning 'Empire Falls'. His works for the theater include two operas and various multimedia works. His third opera, ‘Banquet of Secrets’, with libretto by Steve Vizard, is part of Victorian Opera’s 2016 season. He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra, with which he tours both nationally and internationally. Recent AAO projects have concentrated on collaborations with traditional and contemporary indigenous performers, something that Paul passionately advocates. Among his numerous CD releases are two for the Hush series, designed to assist in the healing environment of Melbourne Children’s Hospital. He is Co-Artistic Director of the Hush project. He has won five Australian Recording Industry Association awards (most recently in 2014 for his recording ‘The Bitter Suite’ which also won an AIR award), 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 director of the Monash University Academy of the Performing Arts and the Monash Art Ensemble. In 2014 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to music and arts administration. He performed an original song co-written with vocalist Megan Washington in November 2014 for the Leaders Dinner at the G20 Summit in Brisbane in front of world leaders including Presidents Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Francois Hollande, Prime Ministers Tony Abbott, David Cameron and Stephen Harper, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon.

Mirko Guerrini

JOB TITLE

Mirko Guerrini was born in Florence in 1973. Has studied piano, saxophone, classical composition and jazz music at the Conservatorium “Luigi Cherubini” in Florence. He graduated in classical saxophone in 1992 and in Jazz in 2010 with 110/110 cum laude. Recipient of the Flack Fellowship at the Banff Centre for Performing Arts in Canada, he is now Permanent Resident in Australia with a Distinguished Talent Visa that he was granted for his exceptional curriculum and his International recognition as a Jazz musician, performer and composer. Eclectic and multi-instrumentalist, producer, multi-awarded composer and orchestra conductor, he has 14 Cds to his credit as a solo sax player and leader of jazz ensembles, more than 50 CDs as a sideman. He was part of the blockbuster project “Carioca” with Stefano Bollani and all Brazilian musicians (cd and dvd released with more than 100.000 copies sold), and has toured Italy any times. Guerrini hosted the radio show “Dottor Djembè” together with David Riondino and Stefano Bollani. The radio program ran for six seasons, becoming a tv show in June 2010 for Rai3. For Dottor Djembè he composed and arranged all the music. The show was awarded as the “best Radio show” in 2009 and 2010. He has very high quality and varied collaborations: with Billy Cobham, Brian Auger, Mark Feldman, Dave Douglas, Stefano Bollani, Enrico Rava, Stefano Battaglia, Paul McCandless, Caetano Veloso, Hermeto Pascoal a.o., as far as jazz is concerned, with notable singers-songwriters such as Laura Pausini, Ivano Fossati and Giorgio Gaber and with a number of other outstanding artists in Italy and abroad. He is also in great demand as a composer/conductor with various Symphony Orchestras (Orchestra “A.Toscanini” of Parma, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Orchestra della Campania and others), and winner of the International Music Competitions “ Concorso 2 Agosto di Bologna” (2000, 2005). He has performed all over the world: including Brasil, Japan, Australia, Canada, USA, France, Spain, Russia, Finland, Indonesia and many other countries.

Niko Schauble

JOB TITLE

Niko Schauble (born 1962 in Stuttgart, Germany) is a sought after contemporary musician and composer. In addition to leading his own ensembles (Tibetan Dixie, Papa Carlo, Es Geht!), Niko has performed and recorded with many of the world's leading artists such as Sam Rivers, Lee Konitz, Enrico Rava, Trilok Gurtu, Dewey Redman, Arthur Blythe, Steve Lacy, Greg Osby, Branford Marsalis, Mike Nock, Gunther Schuller, Palle Mikkelborg, Archie Roach, Karaikudi R. Mani, Young Wagilaks (Songmen from Arnhem Land). Niko’s work as a drummer and composer can be heard on over 70 internationally released albums. International touring has seen Niko play in most of the European countries as well as India, Australia, USA, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, Hong Kong, Japan and New Zealand. Niko continues to write for international soloists, ballets and ensembles, ranging from percussion ensembles, saxophone quartets to symphony orchestras. Some of the orchestras he has worked with include the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Dessauer Philhamonie, the Berliner Saxophon Quartett, the West Australian Ballet, Tanzfabrik Berlin. Niko is also an established composer, arranger and producer for Film and Television with over 200 hours of underscore credits to his name. Niko owns and operates Pughouse Studios, a state-of-the-art recording studio established 2012 in Thornbury. Niko has received many awards and nominations during his career, including the Australian Jazz Award (Best Drummer), Annecy Film Festival, Leo Awards and Windscreen Festival (music for short film), Honorable Mention Julius Hemphil Awards, New York, 1st and 2nd Prize ‘Tage der leichten Musik’ des SFB, Berlin, 2nd prize Franz-Josef Reinl Stiftung.