Paul Kelly is one of Australia’s greatest and most revered songwriters, with over 25 albums to his name. He has published a memoir How To Make Gravy and an anthology of his favourite poems Love is Strong as Death. His most recent album is Please Leave Your Light On, a collaboration with pianist Paul Grabowsky.

With Julia Stone’s new record comes the grit and glitter of the city, and all its attendant joys and dangers, romances and risks. No longer content to merely explore the wildernesses of folk and indie-rock, Sixty Summers, Stone’s third solo outing, finds the celebrated songwriter diving headfirst into the cosmopolitan, hedonistic world of late-night, moonlit pop. Dirt under foot is replaced with wet pavement and sticky dancefloors; blue skies are traded for red lights and red lips. A dazzling reintroduction to the beloved Stone, Sixty Summers presents that rarest of transformations: not a metamorphosis or cheap makeover, but a shedding of skin, a revealing. It is Stone at her truest, brightest self, a powerful and revered icon finally painting herself with her own brush and her own palette.

Deborah Conway has been a significant contributor to Australian music for over 40 years. Innovator, motivator, role model, facilitator & entrepreneur, Conway is fearless in her risk taking, has pushed boundaries, has risen to many challenges & has always argued her cause with integrity & intelligence to pursue the highest standards of whatever is in her sights. For the last 3 decades Willy Zygier, musician, songwriter & composer, has been her primary collaborator.

Conway & Zygier established Shir Madness, now FOJAM, in Melbourne in 2015 with a second outing in 2017.

In 2020 Conway received Member (AM) of the Order Of Australia and Australia Council’s Don Banks Award given for outstanding contribution to music.

Harry James Angus, the firebrand trumpet-playing vocalist from the hugely successful band The Cat Empire, is known both for his thrilling live performances and for his constant musical re-invention. His full-time gig with The Cat Empire has had much success. 6 Australian top ten albums and huge chart success all over the world, appearances at every major festival including Glastonbury, Montreal Jazz and TV appearances on Letterman and Jay Leno.

Harry’s solo work is a different beast though. His new work takes the raw intensity, chaos and exploratory power that has helped make The Cat Empire such an incandescent live experience, but redirects it towards a darker, more weirdly beautiful universe. A universe inspired by artists like Nina Simone, Van Morrison, Antony & The Johnsons and John Coltrane.

Professor Paul Grabowsky AO is a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor – and is one Australia’s most distinguished artists.

As one of Australia's leading jazz musicians, Paul was also musical director of Tonight Live with Steve Vizard (1990-1992), Commissioning Editor (Arts and Entertainment) for ABC Television (1995-98), has written the scores for over twenty feature film and TV productions in Australia, the UK and US. Paul was Founding Artistic Director of the Australian Art Orchestra (1994-2013) and has won eight ARIA awards, among many other prestigious awards.

Paul was Artistic Director of the Queensland Music Festival (2005-2007) and Adelaide Festival of Arts for (2010 and 2012), a Professor at Monash University since 2012, he is currently director of the Monash University , Performing Arts Centres and the Monash Art Ensemble. In 2014 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to music and arts administration.

Sophia Brous is an interdisciplinary artist and performance-maker based in New York, USA and Melbourne, Australia. A vocalist, composer, performance-maker and curator, she creates new contemporary music performance working with artists, festivals, concert halls and cultural events internationally.

Emily Lubitz is best known as the lead singer and songwriter for critically acclaimed indie-folk band Tinpan Orange. Her voice has been described, in no particular order, as “brushed velvet” (The Age), “gossamer” (JJJ) and as the “ethereal voice behind Metro’s Dumb Ways To Die video hit” (Sydney Morning Herald), which has been viewed over 200 million times. She tours the world with her band, playing major festivals and club shows. Emily lives in the NSW Northern Rivers with her husband and three sons.

2020 was a huge debut year for rising music star Kee'ahn with her soulful single Better Things immediately thrusting her into the Australian music psyche with its message becoming a mantra for many struggling through the challenges of lock down and a changed world.

Effortlessly blending the sounds of soul, R&B and pop throughout her music, Kee'ahn weaves lush melodies and words reminiscent of heartbreak and healing. Her rich vocals and hopeful lyrics champion the idea that finding strength in our struggles, encourages us to reflect, reinvent, and rejoice in all of our own individual healing journeys.

Kee'ahn is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal, Zenadth Kes song woman who has recently ventured from her home town in Far North QLD, to pursue her dream in the Kulin Nation (Melbourne, Australia). With a name coming from the Wik people, meaning to dance, to sing, to play - Kee’ahn aims to honour her name and Ancestors through her soulful music.

For 40 years Shane Howard has established himself as one of Australia's most influential writers and singers. Howard's songs created a new map of Australia. From the red heart, where he penned his anthemic Solid Rock, to the wilds of Tasmania that gave birth to Let the Franklin Flow, he’s created a uniquely Australian voice.

His songs dig down into what it means to be a modern Australian. They also reach across the globe and champion the cause of the common people, the environment and the injustices of colonisation. Dark Matter, his 14th solo album released in March 2020, continues to plumb the depths.

Ernie Gruner is Australia’s leading klezmer violinist following Europe & USA travels. He’s performed and recorded music from Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Ireland & Scotland as well as accompanying singer songwriters including Archie Roach, Shane Howard, Kavisha Mazzella, Dya Singh. He’s performed and written music for theatre and dance. He currently performs with Bohemian Nights, Saray Iluminado, Bowlines, Klezmeritis, Melbourne Playback Theatre. (European, Gypsy, Balkan, Middle-Eastern, Tango, Sephardic, Celtic, Improvised music etc). He’s played festivals around Australia and New Zealand concerts and has over 90 recording credits.

Maria Tumarkin writes books, essays, reviews, and pieces for performance and radio; she collaborates with sound and visual artists and has had her work carved into dockside tiles. She is the author of four books of ideas. Maria is a recipient of the 2020 Windham Campbell Prize in the category of nonfiction. She holds a PhD in cultural history and teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Melbourne.

Arnold Zable is an award-winning writer, novelist, and human rights activist. His books include Jewels and Ashes, Café Scheherazade, Scraps of Heaven, Sea of Many Returns, The Fig Tree, Violin Lessons, The Fighter, and most recently, The Watermill. He has written works for theatre, and has appeared widely as a storyteller, both solo and with musicians, performing tales that cross cultural borders and depict the humanising power of story. His shows include Anytime the Wind Can Change, Journeys to Ithaka, The Fig Tree Replanted, and Wanderers and Dreamers: Tales of Yiddish Theatre in Australia.

Award-winning opera singer and songwriter Jess Hitchcock is an Indigenous performer, composer and singer-songwriter with family origins from Saibai in the Torres Straits and Papua New Guinea. Jess has been touring with Kate Miller-Heidke as her backing vocalist for the last 4 years. Jess was a featured artist in Paul Kelly’s 2019 Making Gravy tour, leading to the release of the track, ‘Everyday My Mother’s Voice’. Last year Jess had the honour of performing alongside Archie Roach for ABC’s series The Sound and again during Archie’s emotional performance of Took the Children Away at his induction to the Aria Hall of Fame. Jess finished off 2020 singing at Carols by Candlelight on Channel 9 and alongside Paul Kelly and his band at ABC’s NYE celebration. Jess was the recipient of the Smuggler of Light, Indigenous Music and Media Award presented at the APRA Professional Development awards in 2019.

We are the only Wurundjeri female dance group, and also Traditional Custodians of Narrm (Melbourne). Djirri Djirri means Willy Wagtail in Woiwurrung, the language of Wurundjeri people, the Traditional Custodians of Narrm and surrounds. The Willy Wagtail the Spirit Bird, gave us dance! Many of our group have danced since they were young children, while others have learnt as adults. Our dances are created to honour our Liwik (Ancestors), Kerr-up-non (Family), Biik (Country) and animals. We are all related by blood through one woman, Annie Borate, William Barak's sister. We teach our dancers to also sing in Woiwurrung language, our Mother Tongue.