Composer, percussionist, painter, educator and proud Kamilaroi man Adam Manning spoke with Bent Notes about his growing up with music and rhythm and their becoming then a key feature of his life.   He said that his decision to work with these skills was essentially an evolution rather than a specific decision.

Adam discussed how our society seems to have forgotten how to feel and know the rhythm of the land, and how his work brings these rhythms to the forefront, with work recently in collaboration with groups such as the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s; and in his brand new work – First Rhythms – with artists from the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO).

First Rhythms was commissioned by the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, the Australian Art Orchestra and Songlines Music Aboriginal Corporation and will be featured in this years Melbourne International Jazz Festival.  The commision is culmination of Adam’s appointment as the First Nations Artist in Residence at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival for the 2024/25 year.

In this work, Adam reimagines clapsticks — not just as instruments, but as vessels of memory, movement and deep connection to Country.  The work is described as weaving “traditional percussive language with modern instrumentation, visual art and a fluid interplay of improvisation and notation”.

Adam will be performing First Rhythms with the AAO in the Primrose Potter Salon at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Sunday October 19, 2025.  Full details from melbournejazz.com

Adam Manning was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday October 12, 2025

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