Across Australia, a growing cohort of First Nations musicians is transforming the classical music landscape — weaving 60,000 years of Indigenous cultural knowledge, language, and storytelling into one of Europe's oldest artistic traditions. From composers-in-residence at major orchestras to pioneering conductors and ensemble directors, these artists are not simply participating in classical music: they are redefining it.
First Nations Voices Entering the Concert Hall
One of the most prominent figures in this movement is James Henry, a versatile composer, sound designer, and photographer — and the grandson of First Nations music legend Jimmy Little. Henry first encountered classical music in high school, an experience that sent him to local libraries to borrow recordings and begin his own musical journey.
"Hearing some of this music for the first time, I wanted to have my own musical discovery that took me to the local libraries and borrowing a whole lot of classical music from there," Henry says.
He has since composed works for major Australian ensembles including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Melbourne String Ensemble, and the Derwent Valley Concert Band. Currently serving as the First Nations Composer in Residence for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Henry's latest composition, Fresh Water Salt Water, is set to premiere in August.
As this work demonstrates, Australia has never been a monoculture, and First Nations wisdom continues to offer new creative and cultural dimensions to the nation's artistic life.
Composers Grounded in Country and Culture
Nardi Simpson, a proud Yuwaalaraay woman from north-western New South Wales, brings her deep connection to Country into her compositional practice. A founding member of First Nations folk group Stiff Gins and a writer, Simpson participated in the Ngarra Burria First Nations Composers Initiative in 2019, producing the work Of Stars and Birds for Ensemble Offspring the following year. She is currently completing a PhD in composition at the Australian National University.
For Simpson, the relationship between Indigenous culture and creative work is not about possession or identity as ownership. "It's about allowing those learnings and ownership to exist all around you and for that to be the orienting beauty of culture in this place," she explains.
Adam Manning, a Kamilaroi artist and musician, similarly grounds his practice in rhythmic expression as a way of connecting to Land, People, Culture, and Story.
Breaking Barriers in Conducting and Ensemble Leadership
Perhaps no figure better illustrates the barriers being broken than Aaron Wyatt — a Noongar, Yamatji, and Wongai musician from Perth whose roles span conductor, composer, violist, educator, and innovator. In 2022, Wyatt became the first Indigenous person to conduct an Australian state orchestra, leading the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Long Time Living Here, a musical Acknowledgement of Country composed by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon.
Wyatt traces his love of orchestral music to his years playing in youth orchestras. "I just really love the colours and possibilities and sounds that you can get from symphonic repertoire that you can't always get from other types of music," he says.
He is the Artistic Director of Ensemble Dutala, a chamber ensemble specifically dedicated to fostering the careers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander instrumentalists in the orchestral world. Wyatt is also a member of the Decibel New Music Ensemble, where he developed the Decibel ScorePlayer app for graphic notation.
A Living Dialogue Between Two Traditions
What unites these artists is a commitment to genuine cultural dialogue rather than mere fusion. Their work raises a compelling question for Australian audiences: what does it mean when one of the world's youngest classical music scenes meets one of humanity's oldest living cultures?
The answer, it appears, is something entirely new — and entirely Australian. With premieres on the horizon, ensembles dedicated to Indigenous orchestral careers, and composers pursuing advanced research degrees, First Nations classical musicians are not at the margins of Australia's concert halls. They are increasingly at the centre.
