Joe Chindamo

Joe Chindamo is musical polyglot in the tradition of Bernstein and Previn, who cannot be easily characterised. Routinely described as one of the best jazz pianists in the world for many years, his art has always transcended jazz.

Beginning his musical journey on accordion at six, he switched to piano at 15 and taught himself jazz piano by listening to and emulating the greats. At 18, he attended Melbourne State College (now Melbourne University), where he received his first official piano lesson, and majored in music and mathematics. At 21, he became the preferred pianist of film composers such as Brian May and Bruce Smeaton, and consequently provided the piano work for over 60 films throughout the next decade.

During this period, he also performed with a plethora of artists ranging from Shirley Bassey, Olivia Newton John, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to Vince Jones. Returning to jazz predominantly at 30, he produced more than 25 recordings under his own name, many of these winning awards, including reaching number one on the Japanese charts. He also toured the world with American legendary drummer Billy Cobham for many years, and recorded with some of the world’s finest jazz musicians, such as Michael and Randy Brecker, Ray Brown, Ernie Watts, Larry Coryell and Lee Konitz. In recognition of his remarkable contribution to this art form he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Bell Awards in 2016.

In recent years, he has gradually moved away from jazz and increasingly concentrated his efforts on composition. As a result, he has emerged as a unique, daring and formidable new voice as a contemporary classical composer. His iconoclastic duo work with violinist Zoë Black has been celebrated throughout the world. The pair are regarded as a unique and refreshing force in contemporary chamber music, having recorded three albums; two of them receiving ARIA nominations for best classical release. In 2015, Chindamo and Black performed the former’s re-versioning of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Carnegie Hall to great acclaim.

Chindamo has received important commissions to compose for Australia’s elite musicians, ensembles and orchestras, including Australian Chamber Orchestra (who premiered his Bass Concerto recently), Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Australian String Quartet (who performed his first string quartet Tempesta on their national tour in 2016) . Currently he is composing a double concerto for Oboe and Cor Anglais for Diana Doherty, Alexandre Oguey and Camerata of St John's Orchestra for the Queensland Festival, a show for the Adelaide Cabaret with librettist Steve Vizard, an opera for Victorian Opera Company and a work for Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.