Tamara Kohler - co-artistic director/Flutes
Tamara Kohler is an Australian flautist and arts producer, specialising in new music performance. She is Co- Artistic Director and flautist of award-winning Australian art music ensemble Rubiks Collective, and is also Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Contemporary Music for All (CoMA) - UK based participatory new music charity, dedicated to broaden open opening within communities to new music participation, and increasing accessibility for underrepresented minorities within the UK arts sector.
Noted for her “fearless execution” in performance, Tamara has performed internationally throughout Australia, Europe, America & Asia with many leading new music ensembles. Tamara has performed countless Australian and world premieres of new works, with her festival credits including the Klangwerkstatt Festival (DE), theinaugural Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab (USA), Australia Fest (IN), Bang on a Can Summer Festival (USA) and Darmstadt International Festival for New Music (DE).
She has held multiple artistic residencies at the Banff Centre (CAN) and in 2017 was a Classical Freedman Fellowship finalist. In 2020, she was selected to represent Australia at Classical:NEXT. Tamara is passionate about opening access within the arts for underrepresented voices, having worked with high profile arts charities Raw Material (Brixton, UK) and Short Black Opera (Melbourne, AUS) to design and deliver various community projects. She is in demand as a creative arts leader, having been invited to deliver keynote presentations at conferences in Germany, Belgium and England.
She regularly mentors young people interested in embarking on less conventional creative careers and has guest presented at the University of Melbourne, Australian National Academy of Music, the University of Queensland, Monash University and the Melbourne Recital Centre.
kaylie melville - co-artistic director/percussion
Melbourne-based percussionist Kaylie Melville is a soloist and chamber musician dedicated to new music performance. Noted for her “extraordinary ability to impart a sense of musicality to even the smallest gestures” (Partial Durations), Kaylie is the founding Co-Director of Rubiks Collective, Assistant Artistic Director of Speak Percussion, and frequently works with leading Australian ensembles and orchestras. In addition to performing, Kaylie's practice incorporates improvising, directing, producing, curating and teaching.
As a passionate advocate of new music Kaylie has performed in the world premieres of award winning Australian works, including Kate Neal's 'Semaphore' (Performance of the Year, 2016 Art Music Awards) and Liza Lim’s ‘Atlas of the Sky’ (Performance of the Year, 2019 Art Music Awards). Her festival appearances include the Melbourne Festival, Sydney Festival, Salihara Festival (Indonesia), Australia Fest (India), George Town Festival (Malaysia), and the Percussive Arts Society’s International Convention (US).
Kaylie has also participated in a number of prestigious new music courses including the inaugural Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab (USA, 2017), Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music (Germany, 2016), Bang on a Can Summer Festival (USA, 2015) and So Percussion’s Summer Institute at Princeton University (USA, 2013).
JACOB ABELA - Founding member/KEYBOARDS
Australian keyboardist and composer Jacob Abela is a soloist and chamber musician specialising in the new music field. Jacob is also Australia's leading voice for the Ondes Martenot, a French electronic keyboard instrument which predates the synthesiser. In 2017, Jacob was the solo ondist with the Australian World Orchestra for their performance of Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, conducted by Simone Young.
Jacob is a founding member of contemporary art music outfit Rubiks, who have enjoyed critical acclaim for their contribution to Melbourne's contemporary music scene. Rubiks have collaborated with various artists including Swedish composer Marcus Fjellström, resulting in the premiere recording of Imaginarium for ensemble, electronic music, and animation.
Jacob performs regularly with the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, and has appeared with renowned ensembles such as Speak Percussion, Ensemble Offspring, Argonaut Ensemble (BIFEM), and Synergy Percussion. Festival credits include the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival (USA), Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music, Metropolis New Music Festival, ISCM World New Music Days, Sydney Festival, and Mathemusical Conversations (Singapore).
gemma kneale - founding member/cello
Gemma Kneale is a passionate chamber and orchestral musician, dedicated to presenting repertoire of all styles and genres. In addition to her work as a co-founding member of Rubiks Collective, Gemma enjoys regular performances with Orchestra Victoria, and has performed in various festivals such as Metropolis New Music Festival, Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music, Darmstadt International Festival of New Music, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar, Stanford.
Expanding her skills in conducting, Gemma is a passionate educator at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s “The Pizzicato Effect” as Lead Teaching Artist of the Chamber Ensemble, alongside other teaching engagements at various schools in Melbourne.
In 2017, Gemma continued her studies at the Australian National Academy of Music as a Fellow, presenting her concert series ‘She Speaks’. This series culminated in a live broadcast on ABC Classic FM celebrating International Women’s Day, and a concert of all Australian female composition at the Ian Potter Gallery – NGV.
