When creating music, what violinist, composer and arranger Amalia Umeda values most is the possibility of manipulating space, reflecting various emotional states, building tensions, and illustrating even the most abstract ideas. Amalia is one of 6 artists selected for the international program Footprints Europe 2021.  In August 2022, as a result of that program, her quartet started the Nowoświt Footprints tour. The tour included concerts at the Oslo Jazz Festival (Oslo, Norway), Umea Jazz Festival (Umea, Sweden), Cologne Jazzweek/NICA Exchange (Cologne, Germany), Nasjonal Jazzscene (Oslo, Norway), NOSPR (Katowice, Poland), Periscope (Lyon, France), Bimhuis (Amsterdam, Netherlands), and Jazzahead! European Showcase (Bremen, Germany). Amalia is the winner of the 3rd prize at the Zbigniew Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition 2022, a special prize at the Young Crocus Jazz Contest 2021 (Amalia Umeda Quartet), and the 2nd prize at the Blue Note Poznań Competition 2020 (solo category).

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 (in New York) on a given night.” Davis has released 24 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, Julian Lage 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’ latest release, Diatom Ribbons Live at the Village Vanguard, was voted best album of 2023 by NPR and PopMatters among others.  Davis is the Associate Program Director of Creative Development for the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and the founder of Pyroclastic Records and the IMCCW. Davis is a Steinway Artist.

The Lutosławski Quartet performs contemporary music as well as recently commissioned pieces, and focuses on popularizing Polish music, including works by Lutosławski, Bacewicz, Szymanowski, and also compositions by one of the group members – Marcin Markowicz. An ensemble made up of versatile and open-minded artists, they blend the contemporary repertoire with the gems of Classical, Romantic and jazz music. They have worked with Charles Lloyd, Vijay Iyer, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Sylvie Courvousier, Mark Feldman, James Brandon Lewis and other jazz greats, and recorded the world’s first album of Witold Lutosławski’s chamber works for the Accord label.

Michael Bates’ Acrobat
Since his debut album Outside Sources (2004), Canadian bassist-composer Michael Bates felt that even contemporary jazz constrained him, saying that he takes inspiration from Miles Davis equally as from the punk recordings of Bad Brains. It was from punk that he started his adventure with music composition and performance. He pushed new boundaries with Acrobat (a quintet led by Bates) daringly taking up the legacy and composition technique of Shostakovich (titled Music for, and by, Dmitri Shostakovich, 2011). From that project, it was a short way to Bates’ discovery of one of Poland’s most significant 20th-century composers, Witold Lutosławski. Bates’ arrangements of this composer’s works were premiered by Acrobat and Lutosławski Quartet during the New York edition of Jazztopad festival in June 2022. Several months later in Wrocław, the musicians met up again in order to record the music and thus preserve their fantastic adventure for the future generations.

Hand to Earth – A call to open ears – eluding genre, traversing continents, fusing the ancient and the contemporary. Hand to Earth developed during an Australia Art Orchestra* residency in the remote highlands of Tasmania. Yolgnu songman, Daniel Wilfred and Korean vocalist, Sunny Kim, formed an effortless rapport that spans continents and cultures and yet expresses a deeply human commonality. Their vocal approaches are melded into the electronic atmospheres created by trumpeter and composer, Peter Knight, who draws on the minimalism of Brian Eno and Jon Hassell to create a bed for these beautifully contrasting voices. Daniel sings in his native language, and is the keeper of Yolgnu manikay (songs) from Northeast Arnhem Land that can be traced back over 40,000 years. His is the oldest continuously practiced musical tradition in the world. Kim sings in English and Korean and intones wordless gestures that invoke raw elemental forces. Together they sing of the stars, of fire, and of the cooling rain, against the sounds of Peter Knight’s trumpet and electronic crackles. Hand to Earth expresses something of the here and now in music, and represents contemporary Australia at its best: sophisticated, inclusive, diverse, and forward looking. Concert highlights have included Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, WOMADelaide, Darwin Festival, and a tour of Australia’s Northern Territory.

Peter Knight – trumpet, electronics, percussion (Hand to Earth)

Perpetually curious, composer/trumpeter/sound artist Peter Knight’s practice exists in the spaces between categories, between genres, and between cultures. Peter has emerged as a significant international force in contemporary music, initiating commissions, collaborations, and performances with a diverse range of artists including recently, Anthony Braxton (USA), Nicole Lizée (Canada), Amir ElSaffar (USA), Daniel Wilfred (Arnhem Land), Hyelim Kim (UK/Korea),  Baliphonics (Sri Lanka), and Alvin Lucier (USA).  Peter was artistic director of the Australian Art Orchestra from 2013-23 and led the group to  multiple awards and accolades. In addition to his role with the AAO Peter regularly presents his  music as both performer and composer in a range of settings; he also composes for contemporary theater, film, and creates sound installations. Peter has won numerous awards, nominations, and  fellowships. He holds a doctorate from Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. 

David Wilfred – yidaki, voice, dance (Hand to Earth)
David Yipininy Wilfred is a Ritharrŋu man, and the traditional Djunggayi (manager) of the manikay of the country of Nyilipidgi. He lives in Ngukurr, NT and teaches song and dance to the children at the Ngukurr School. Together with his family members Benjamin Wilfred and Daniel Wilfred, he  has been playing with the Australian Art Orchestra for almost 15 years, sharing their songs and culture with people around the world. Together with Daniel, he was awarded the NT Luminary Award for ‘cultural leadership and sustained creative contributions in Australia and beyond’ during the 2020 Art Music  Awards by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre. 

Sunny (Yoon Sun) Kim – voice, electronics, percussion (Hand to Earth)

Sunny Kim is a Korea-born vocalist, improviser, composer and educator based in Melbourne, 
Australia. She is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music of the University of Melbourne, 
Australia. Prior to her current position, Sunny was Assistant Professor in Applied Music Studies at  the Dongah Institute of Media and Arts (South Korea). After completing her studies in jazz at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Sunny moved to New York in 2005 where she performed  and recorded with many internationally renowned musicians. She’s a two-time winner of Jazz People Magazine’s Reader’s Poll Awards in Best Vocalist category and collaborates with contemporary and traditional musicians, dancers, and visual artists to explore expressions regarding identity, spirituality, gender, and cross-disciplinary art forms. Sunny has released five albums as a leader. 

Aviva Endean – bass clarinet, harmonic flute, electronics (Hand to Earth)
Aviva Endean is a clarinetist, composer, improviser, curator, sound artist, performance-maker and collaborator. Aviva regularly works across a range of contexts including experimental and 
improvised music, new chamber music, creating theatre works which are designed to be listened to and working on cross-disciplinary collaborations. Her work seeks engagement beyond the boundaries of her art form, to reimagine the possibilities of a practice with sound.   Aviva was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Art Orchestra’s ‘Pathfinder’ Music Leadership program, which offered her a one-year Associate Artist position with the company. Her other positions have included ‘Emerging Artist in Residence’ with both Chamber Made and ASTRA Chamber Music Society, and Associate Artist for the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Canada).  Aviva is the recipient of numerous Awards including the Freedman Music Fellowship (2015).

Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free jazz improvisers. Drake also has performed world music; by the late 1970s, he was a member of Foday Musa Suso’s Mandingo Griot Society and has played reggae throughout his career. Drake has worked with trumpeter Don Cherry, pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Archie Shepp and David Murray and bassists Reggie Workman and William Parker (in many lineups). He studied drums extensively, including eastern and Caribbean styles. He frequently plays without sticks, using his hands to develop subtle commanding undertones. His tabla playing is notable for his subtlety and flair. Drake’s questing nature and his interest in Caribbean percussion led to a deep involvement with reggae. 

Lesley Mok is a New York City-based percussionist and interdisciplinary artist who works in sound, installation, film, and theater. Interested in the ways social conditions shape our beings, Lesley’s work focuses on overacting humanness to explore ideas about alienness and privilege. Their work draws from queer and feminist art practices, Chinese philosophy, Afro-Cuban musical traditions, futurist perspectives, and ancestral knowledge. As a percussionist, Lesley has performed alongside Tomeka Reid, William Parker, Ingrid Laubrock, Mary Malvorson, Kenny Barron, John Patitucci, Cory Smythe, Jen Shyu, Kalia Vandever, Fay Victor, Adam O’Farrill, and others. They have performed throughout the Americas and Europe, including Roulette Intermedium, SF Jazz, Ringling Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Art, Unerhört Festival, Jazzowa Jesien, Cologne Jazz Festival, moers festival, Panama Jazz Festival, and Dominican Republic Jazz Festival. 

Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, pianist and composer Marta Sánchez is actively working in the contemporary creative music scene in New York City and around the globe. Charting a significant path through her innovative and original music, she has reached an international audience, gaining significant global recognition. Marta’s main project, her quintet, was created soon after she moved to New York, and since then has released four albums: “Partenika” (2015), “Danza Imposible” (2017), and “El Rayo de Luz” (2019) with the Spanish label Fresh Sound and SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) with Whirlwind Recordings. She has toured the United States, Europe, South America, and Central America, performing as a leader or as a sideman at prestigious venues and prominent festivals such as North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Eurojazz in Mexico City, Eurojazz in Athens, Jazz Festival Vitoria Gasteiz, Winter Jazz Festival in New York, and Madrid among many others. In the United States she has performed at some of the most prestigious clubs including the Blue Note, Birdland, Roulette, Jazz Gallery, 55 Bar, The Cell Theater, Cornelia Street Cafe, or Blue Whale.

Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated, Echo Award-winning bassist/composer Stephan Crump is an active bandleader with fourteen critically acclaimed album releases in addition to numerous films scoring contributions. Known for transforming his instrument into a speaking entity of magnetic pull, his focus on creative instrumental music has led to collaborations with many leading lights of his generation.