Aaron Choulai: Vibrating Air Series

Monash University Performing Arts Centres welcomes Aaron Choulai to the David Li Sound Gallery for the second of six concerts in 2023’s Vibrating Air series.

Born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and having lived in Tokyo for 15 years, Aaron Choulai is an artist of diverse culture and musical expression.

Choulai began his career in Melbourne as a pianist before moving to New York in the early 2000’s. While working as a bandleader and sideman in America and Europe, Choulai’s profile as a composer and arranger grew while participating in projects back in Australia, working with The Black Arm Band and conceiving the cross-cultural music collaboration We Don’t Dance For No Reason.

In 2008 he undertook postgraduate studies at the Tokyo University of the Arts and after graduating in 2013, continued living in Tokyo where he has become a prominent musical figure in Japan.

Choulai has collaborated with various artists including Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter, Ben Monder, Jim Black, Daichi Yamamoto, Slack, Alan Browne, Paul Grabowsky, Joel Frahm, Yoshimot Akihiro and more. He was appointed as Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra in 2023.

Choulai will perform solo piano and electronics in one of his first performances since returning to Australia.

Aaron Choulai piano

This recital is part of the 2023 Vibrating Air chamber music series, showcasing exceptional artists in the intimate and acoustically superb David Li Sound Gallery.