About Stars of Lyra
Revered Australian jazz musician and double bassist Jonathan Zwartz leads a uniquely intimate series of duo performances with the pianists that have illuminated his musical life: Mike Nock, Barney McAll, Andrea Keller, Novak Manojlovic and Chris Abrahams.

The five stars of the constellation Lyra – which in Greek mythology represents the Lyre of Orpheus — are both title and guiding metaphor.

Five performances, five pianists, each a guiding star of Australian music. 

These are years-long collaborations expressed in new music composed for the performance, each lighting a different side of the musicianship that has led Jonathan Zwartz to the centre of Australian jazz.

Performances will feature The Church’s Fazioli piano, as well as an appearance by one of five guest young artists: Martha Marlow, Leah Berry, Samantha Baxendale, Ruby Jackson and Arlo Sim.

About Jonathan Zwartz
As double bassist, Jonathan has played with Pharoah Sanders, Branford Marsalis, Lionel Loueke, Kurt Elling, Nigel Kennedy, Mark Murphy, Annie Ross, Larry Goldings, Johnny Griffin, Terri-Lynn Carrington, Genesis Owusu, and Katie Noonan.

Jonathan is also a composer, producer, songwriter, and live music advocate. 

He has released three award winning albums as composer and bandleader. His debut Album ‘The Sea’ was released in 2009 and won two Bell awards.

His follow up CD entitled ‘The Remembering and Forgetting of the Air’, won best jazz album in the Australian Recording Industry (AIR) awards.

His third Album ‘Animarum’ (2018) won the ARIA for best jazz album as well as the Bell and Air awards for that year.

In late 2019 recorded with Mike Nock, Julien Wilson and Hamish Stuart a composer’s collaborative album entitled ‘This World’ which was released in 2020 to critical acclaim, sold out a two-week National tour and was nominated for an ARIA award. In 2021 the follow up album ‘Another Dance’ was recorded and released in early 2022. It entered at no 2 on the ARIA Blues and Roots Charts.

In 2021 Jonathan was commissioned by SIMA to compose a concert work for the visiting Finnish Harpist and pianist Iro Haarla. After some delay due to the Covid epidemic, the suite was performed for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival and Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival in November 2022. The Melbourne concert was recorded and broadcast by the ABC.

He co-produced and wrote the orchestrations for singer/songwriter Martha Marlow’s debut album, Medicine Man released in May 2021. 

He curated a series of free concerts for City of Sydney in 2021 under the working title ‘Music and Architecture’. He is currently pursuing an initiative to reactivate bandstands and rotundas in NSW for Make Music Day.

Jonathan is a Writer Director Board member of APRA.

Jonathan has a Masters Degree in Music from the Australian National University, an Associate Diploma in Jazz Studies from the NSW Conservatorium and a diploma in screen composition at the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 2012.  

He has composed Music for documentaries - ‘To Spring From The Hand’ (2014) ‘Ka-Ching, a Pokies Nation’ (ABC, 2015), ‘Madhattan’, (2016), ‘The Scribe’ (ABC 2017) ‘Backtrack Boys’ (ABC 2018), ‘Richard Leplastrier – Framing the View’ (ABC 2020) and several short films also.

He is co-director of The Starfish Club, a monthly concert series now celebrating its 24th year, featuring artists such as Jon Cleary, Deb Conway and Willy Zygier, Don Walker, Tim Rogers, Amanda Brown and Lindy Morrison, Leah Flannagan, Rai Thistlethwayte, Reg Mombassa and Peter O’Doherty, Diana Rouvas, Steve Kilbey, Jade MacRae, Mahalia Barnes, Lucy Thorne and many more.

About Novak Manojlovic
Pianist/Composer/Improvisor based in Sydney, Australia.

Novak’s work describes a fascination with contrasts; new and old, acoustic and electronic, diatonic and atonal, abrasive and meditative. in navigating the friction between conflicting aesthetics across the breadth of his output, one can hear his efforts to move traditional composition and performance practice into a contemporary context through sonic manipulation, visual augmentation and harmonic iconoclasm. Novak has written, arranged, recorded and performed works which defy easy categorisation for a range of settings from solo piano to orchestra and was recognised in his reception of the freedman fellowship (jazz) in 2019. 

Novak’s current active projects are HEKKA, NoMansLand and Colourfields. he has released two albums under the moniker Grown Ocean as well as Places, People (ABC Music) under his own name. he has worked as a musical director, composer, arranger, session musician or collaborator with NGAIIRE, Sampa The Great, The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Godtet, Bonniesongs, Wallace, The Glider, Believe, Earshift Orchestra, Microfiche, Martha Marlow and more.

Novak is currently the artistic director for the Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA).

About Arlo Sim
Arlo Sim is one of the most exciting up and coming male jazz vocalists in Australia today.

A Conservatorium of Music graduate, Arlo's original music traverses a sonic landscape of indie, jazz and folk with major influences such as Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake and Kurt Elling.

Mentored by Keith Urban, in 2021, Arlo came 2nd in The Voice Australia.

“I always feel Arlo's humanity. He has a beautiful heart and is the real deal. It's very rare to have that kind of a gift, in that kind of a soul” - Keith Urban