Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Andrea Keller is one of Australia's most original and influential voices in improvised jazz and art music. A multi-award-winning pianist and composer, she has released over 20 albums of her work, forging a distinct sound at the forefront of jazz and improvised music. Her career is defined by fearless creativity, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and a commitment to reshaping the music sector through gender equity and artistic leadership.

Her impact has been recognised with three ARIA Awards, multiple Bell Awards, an Australia Council Fellowship, the Freedman Jazz Fellowship, and the 2022 Art Music Luminary Award (Victoria). Andrea curates Monday nights at the Jazzlab, established and directs the educational program Gender Defying Jazz and is Head of Jazz & Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.

It's an impressive bio! Now let's find out more about her creative process in this edition of Beyond a Bio.

How would you describe your music to someone hearing it for the first time?

It's difficult to describe improvised music to someone who doesn't have any experience of it, but insight into the processes and priorities behind the music might provide a better access point. For me, these are: play between tension and release, inhabiting distinct and emotive landscapes and sound worlds, inviting improvisation, interaction and musical dialogue, making space for individualism and diverse interpretations, and prioritising feeling over thinking in the moment.

How does a new work usually begin for you?

I tend to work in two ways, either a very spontaneous way without much thinking, or a slow and highly considered way with a lot of thinking. Regarding the spontaneous process, a piece might begin with an improvisation in which a key idea emerges - I then continue to improvise with the idea(s), fleshing things out until a piece is formed. The slow and considered process generally begins away from the instrument with a concept, it can be a broad or specific idea, something I've heard in another context or art form that I'm curious to explore. It could be someone else's music, visual art, a poetic sentence or a few words that inspire something in me. Then I consider and plan, research and slowly build the ideas, making more than could ever fit into one piece, eventually scraping away edit after edit to find what's essential to the piece.

What ideas or sounds are inspiring you right now?

I'm most inspired by the people that I play with. I'm really lucky to have a diverse group of incredible musicians that I work with regularly. Their musical practices are diverse and unique but they are all improvisers and have a deep understanding of what it means to be a collaborator. It's their sounds and musical vocabularies that I imagine when I sit down to write. I explore ways that we can come together, sharing central materials but ensuring that there is space for each musician to express and contribute while remaining true to their personal voice and unique interpretation.

Image: Andrea Keller. Photo by Ian Laidlaw

Can you tell us about a recent project or work?

My latest project/album release is Resonance, a project I co-lead with Sandy Evans, incredible saxophonist and composer who has been such a vital mentor and role model for me. We have had a duo together for a number of years and when we decided it was time to make an album, we started building ideas around our experiences as women in the jazz industry, sustaining creative lives in a male-dominated industry, while upholding significant roles as carers (for partners, aging parents and children), and being teachers, mentors and leaders.

Sandy and I both composed music for the project, to poetry or commissioned lyrics that reflect our experiences, and invited two fabulous vocalists Kristin Berardi and Jenny Barnes to join us. The repertoire moves between composed songs and free improvisations inspired by the poetry/lyrics.

The full album was released on September 18 and we are currently undertaking an East Coast Australian tour involving eight concerts.

What do you hope listeners experience in your music?

I hope people experience a sense of connection when they listen to my music, that they feel somehow included in it. I want listeners to have a sense that they can take from it whatever they need or read into it in any way. I hope they find delight in the spontaneity and the unknown nature of it, and that the music might deliver something new with each experience.

Where or how do you work best?

I work in my tiny study at home in the very early hours of the morning between 4-7am. I really enjoy the quiet and the solitude of this time of day. My brain is sharp and unhurried.

What's something people might not expect about your creative process?

My creative process is both quick and slow at the same time. I am constantly brewing ideas in the background, but the moments I find to sit down and write are rare and brief, so I have to be ready for the opportunity when it arises with no time to lose - this means being prepared to run with whatever the moment brings.

What is one Australian work that has had an impact on you and why?

There have been many Australian jazz artists and albums that have had a big impact on me over the years, Mike Nock's 'Ondas', Paul Grabowsky, Allan Browne, Barney McAll, Phil Slater, Jonathan Zwartz, The Necks, Sam Anning, Sandy Evans, Ten Part Invention, Will Guthrie's Ensemble Nist-Nah, and more, but a recent album I've been loving is from three musicians that I play with in other contexts - Jamie Oehlers (saxophone), Stephen Magnusson (guitar) and Ben Vanderwal (drums). Their trio is called Paper Tiger and the album is called Between the Lines of Stillness (2024). I love the bass-less line up and the sense of freedom the music embodies. The interplay and sense of playfulness between the trio are next level - pure great playing - not afraid to go to the edge and see what they find.

What excites you about Australian art music right now?

In the jazz and improvised music scene in Australia there are so many great musicians - emerging and established. There always have been, but there seems to be a particularly great energy at the moment, and a deepening sense of community with lots of great collaborations across generations and states happening, as well as pockets of brilliance within cities - it feels like a really exciting time to be part of the scene, and I love travelling to other cities and collaborating or listening to the artists there.

What's next for you?

I'm working on an album of my music that I recorded in Sweden in late 2025 with two of my musical hero's - Arve Henriksen (Norwegian trumpeter), and Will Guthrie (France-based drummer). I'm really looking forward to finishing the album and hopefully touring it with them in Australia in 2027.