Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Max Kielly (he/him) is a Naarm-based composer and pianist, writing contemporary concert music that draws on a variety of influences from Jazz to Contemporary Minimalism and Pop. His music focuses on capturing and responding to specific experiences - memory, queer identity, and the projection of desire.

Studying at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Bachelor of Music), Max has studied composition with Elliott Gyger, Melody Eötvös, Charlie Sdraulig and Robert Constable. He has written for and collaborated with many accomplished performers and ensembles both in Australia and internationally. Most recently, he has been commissioned by Coady Green for two major, Queer-centred works for Piano and Two Pianos to be commercially released on Toccata Classics in 2027. The works - Strange Desires and The Language of Dust - are both meditations on Queerness, Voyeurism and Loss, capturing quiet moments of casual intimacy.

Recently, he has also been commissioned by the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) for the 2026 ANAM Set, the World Piano Teachers Association Australia (WPTA) for their International Piano competition, and the Australian National Choral Association (ANCA) for the 2026 Choralfest. He was also a resident at the 2026 Vienna Contemporary Composer's Festival. Writing for the Mivos Quartet, his first string quartet Orgasmic Man responded to a collection of voyeuristic and intimate photographs by Peter Hujar.

In 2025 Max collaborated as composer and pianist with saxophonist Tom Lowe on a commission for solo Soprano Saxophone and Saxophone Quartet, first performed as part of the 2025 World Saxophone Congress in Harbin, China - subsequently premiered in Australia on 3mbs. His works have also recently been performed and commissioned by the International Trombone Festival, Ensemble Liaison, Southern Voices and the Melbourne Chamber Choir to name a few. Recently as a Pianist and Music Director, Max has collaborated with some of Melbourne's most prominent artists and ensembles including Stuart Greenbaum, Stephen McIntyre and Forest Collective.