Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Image: William Barton  
© Keith Saunders

It's NAIDOC week and the AMC are proud to represent 21 Indigenous art music creators. To celebrate, here are some recent highlights:

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon's Treaty premiered in late 2025 by William Barton and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival. The orchestral piece is the second movement in Ms Cheetham Fraillon's yidaki concerto, a follow up to the first in 2022, entitled Baparripna - the Dawn.

William Barton recently collaborated with The Brodsky String Quartet, who have been at the forefront of chamber music in the UK since their formation in 1972. Earlier in the year Barton also joined the surviving members of the US band The Doors to recreate their 1971 song Riders On The Storm for the global non-profit organisation, Playing For Change.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's First Voices Showcase, under the baton of Aaron Wyatt in 2026 recently premiered Nicholas Astill's Mutations alongside James Howard's Nyirrimar Ngamatyata / To Lose Yourself at Sea and performed Wyatt's own The Things Which are Most Important Don't Always Scream the Loudest.

Nardi Simpson's Vigil:Belong held on the stargazer's Lawn at Brangaroo Reserve during Sydney Festival 2026 gathered and led singers from every generation in four songs that map shared musical ancestry. Nardi continues to work with Barayagal choir amongst many other creative projects, including touring with folk band the Stiff Gins. Nardi will be composer in residency with Switzerland's Ensemble Contrechamps in January 2027.

Image (L-R): Deborah Cheetham-Fraillon, Aaron Wyatt, Mark 'Munk' Ross, Adam Manning, Nardi Simpson, William Barton, Nicole Smede and Eric Avery

Nicole Smede's Nyiirun Yiiga (We are Here) honors the Dangaygal ancestors who have cared for Country, songlines, and community through song, dance, and relationship since the beginning. Rooted in the Gathang language of the Worimi, Biripi and Guringay peoples, this work proudly declares: We are still here. Singing, dancing, laughing, loving, and celebrating language, resilience, and identity alongside our First Nations brothers, sisters, and allies who honor our strength. Commissioned by the Canberra International Music Festival's A Major Lift program, and premiered at the Canberra International Music Festival, 2025.

Mark 'Munk' Ross is Ensemble Offspring's First Nations Artist in Residence 2025-2026. Munk has been working in the music industry for nearly 40 years, known as the grandfather of Australian Hip-Hop, his musical portfolio now including several works for chamber ensemble.

Flinders Quartet recently commissioned a new work by Eric Avery, who continues to be one of Australia's most compelling violinists. Titled Sacred Medicines, the 30 minute work was premiered in 2026 and utilised stringybark in performance to connect the musicians to the music. Avery had Flinders Quartet hold stringybark on stage before the performance to "play the piece into him", the dichotomy that he wanted to show: the notation exists within us, by pulling the string across his body, leaving the impression of noteheads on his costume to indicate a pitch moving high or low, or shifts in tempo.

Adam Manning has been working on several projects, including an eBook on percussion for children. Adam's Beethoven No.5 Reimagined: A Sonic Explanation for clapsticks and chamber orchestra was featured on the AMC's inaugural Momentum Plus recording project 2025.