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Winter Series 2026 - Andrea Keller's Transients

About

Welcome to Monash Council's Winter Series 2026!

Join us to be mesmerised by ARIA-winning composer, pianist and educator Andrea Keller as she presents her new trio at The Count’s, featuring trumpeter Niran Dasika and guitarist Theo Carbo. Expect original compositions, poetic improvisation, and Keller’s signature contemporary jazz approach to piano.

Andrea will be supported by the Tony Yang Trio. Tony's first performance with Monash was at Clayton Festival this year where the Trio took the audience by storm.

MORE ABOUT ANDREA KELLER
Andrea Keller is committed to creating new music with an emphasis on improvisation and collaboration. She has released twenty-five albums as a bandleader since 2000 and has performed on many others, including recordings with the Black Arm Band Company, the Australian Art Orchestra, the Vanessa Perica Orchestra, and Eddie Perfect. She is frequently commissioned to compose works for leading artists and ensembles – most recently Across Silence (exploring the art of music, Auslan and haptics), the Monash Art Ensemble, Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire and Ensemble Offspring.

Highly lauded for her music, Andrea has received numerous awards over her career. In 2022 she received the Art Music Luminary (Victoria) Award and has previously been recognised with three ARIA awards, multiple Australian Jazz Bell awards, and more. A champion of Australian creative music and a nurturer of emerging musicians, Andrea curates Monday nights at the Jazzlab, runs the educational program Gender Defying Jazz and is Head of Jazz & Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.

Andrea Keller’s Transients celebrate ten years in 2026! Transients is a series of trios assembled by Andrea, that are inspired by the philosophy and legacy of much loved and respected mentor Allan Browne. With a focus on collective music making, human connection and meaningful dialogue, true to their name, the formations have ebbed and flowed on an organically unfolding journey over the years.

Andrea has released four albums with Transients. Volumes 1 & 2 (2019) captured the collaborations that occurred between 2016-2019 (Vol 1 awarded the 2019 Music Victoria Award for Best Jazz Album and nominated for an ARIA for Best Jazz Album 2019). While Volumes 3 & 4 (2024) feature collaborations that have developed between 2020-2024.
This special performance for the Count’s will feature Andrea’s compositions performed with the exciting and unique musical voices of Niran Dasika (trumpet) and Theo Carbo (guitar). Together, this trio brings unparalleled musicianship and a spirit of adventurous collaboration to the stage.

MORE ABOUT TONY YANG TRIO
Tony Yang began playing guitar at the age of nine. He graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in 2024 and is currently a first-year student studying Jazz and Improvisation at the University of Melbourne (Victorian College of the Arts), where he continues to develop his artistic voice with strong institutional support.

Tony regularly travels to New York to immerse himself in the international jazz scene and has studied extensively with world-renowned guitarist Mike Moreno. He has received a scholarship to attend the University of Melbourne, recognising his artistic promise and commitment to jazz.

Dedicated to jazz, Tony has spent years immersed in the jazz repertoire and performs regularly around Melbourne. Since 2023, he has been a member of the Melbourne Youth Jazz Orchestra and is an active presence in the city’s jazz scene, appearing at prestigious venues such as Uptown Jazz Café and Paris Cat Jazz Club, alongside Australia’s top-tier musicians including James Sherlock, Carl Mackey, Danny Fischer, and Ben Hanlon.

Tony has earned significant recognition as a young artist, including second place in the VCASS Outstanding Soloist Competition, becoming the first jazz guitarist in the school’s history to receive the award. He has been featured as a soloist with the Daryl Mackenzie Jazz Orchestra and was selected as a finalist for the James Morrison Scholarship, performing at Mount Gambier.

His primary musical influences include guitarists James Sherlock and Mike Moreno, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter. Tony has studied extensively with James Sherlock and other leading Melbourne jazz musicians, including saxophonist Tony Hicks and pianist Mark Fitzgibbon. Blending emotional depth with technical clarity, Tony continues to shape a personal sound that connects audiences across cultures.