Peter Knight and TL;DR - Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2026
Performing their second album, Phosphenes, TL;DR on stage with a deepened musical language and a new body of work exploring the light patterns perceived behind closed eyes. Their music continues to traverse the territory the group has staked out as its own, further refining an approach built on Peter Knight’s prepared trumpet and electronics, Helen Svoboda‘s floating soprano and resonant bass, Theo Carbo‘s textural guitar, and Quinn Knight‘s shimmering, cymbal-rich drumming.
Xani: KOŁACZ - Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2026
One of Melbourne’s most distinctive musicians, Xani, presents her highly anticipated MIJF commission. Bringing together Australian and international collaborators performing together for the first time, KOŁACZ features renowned multi-instrumentalist Helen Svoboda (double bass, voice, electronics), long-time collaborator Justin Olsson (drums, percussion), and, in her Australian debut, Estonian-Swedish artist Tuulikki Bartosik (accordion, kannel, voice).
Echo-Location | Presented by Goolugatup Sounds (WA)
Echo-Location is a special edition of Goolugatup’s ongoing live music series and explores the mapping of places, spaces and stories through sound.
Showcasing a diverse lineup of local and national artists including Helen Svoboda and Theo Carbo (VIC), Echo-Location considers how sound can recall landscapes and journeys and shape our sense of the world; how sound can tell stories, with or without text; and how musical instruments become maps of sonic possibilities - with their fringes pointing towards unexplored, adventurous territory.
MEATSHELL - The Elevator Child, Album Launch
MEATSHELL are proud to present live, their “utterly new and brilliantly innovative” (Hilary Seabrook) third studio album “The Elevator Child”, out now on Earshift Music. For this performance the duo will be joined by Pat Telfer (electronics) and Dylan van der Schyff (percussion), with support sets from Niran Dasika and Mia Barham.
Dasika/Keller/Svoboda - Inner West Jazz Fest (SYD)
Inner West Jazz Fest is a collaboration between the Johnson Street Jazz Community, 21 Shepherd Street, SIMA and the musicians involved. This is an unfunded, independently organised event.
The Breath Haus X Now or Never
Then Yolnu songmen, Daniel and David Wilfred, of Hand to Earth, along with Bhairavi Raman (violin), Peter Knight (electronics/trumpet), and Helen Svoboda (bass), lead audiences deeper into a state of listening and connection. Their music will hold a space for stillness and connection, extending the evening’s journey inward.
Seams
Helen Svoboda and David Wei Han Dai bring together two deeply expressive traditions in a collaboration that feels both intimate and expansive.
An Iliad - Sydney Theatre Company
Homer’s Iliad is transformed into a thrilling and deeply moving vehicle for acting powerhouse David Wenham. Music composed and performed by Helen Svoboda.
The Great Reset (Jazztopad) POL
A world-premiere international collaboration between three singular artists reshaping the boundaries of sound and genre.
The Great Reset (EFG London Jazz Festival)
A world-premiere international collaboration between three singular artists reshaping the boundaries of sound and genre.
The Great Reset (MIJF)
A world-premiere international collaboration between three singular artists reshaping the boundaries of sound and genre.
Diagrammatica - RISING
Enter a genre-defying artwork where you can watch, listen, or fall into moving pictures of thought via live performance, drawing, film and soundscape.
Cycles & Variations - Canberra International Music Festival
A program of works by formidable soloist and Principal Cello of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Finnish star musician, Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve. Performing alongside Tipi, Helen Svoboda is a Finnish/Australian award-winning double bassist, vocalist and composer.
Easter @ The Piano Mill
Celebrating its tenth year, The Piano Mill returns with an exciting lineup of all-star musicians and exclusive compositions created especially for this award-winning venue.
Joseph Franklin 'a thousand tiny mutinies' album launch pt. 2
Naarm bassist and composer Joseph Franklin will perform the second and final launch of his album 'a thousand tiny mutinies' alongside Eora/Sydney-based sound artist Ben Carey, in Franklin’s final performance before relocating to the USA.
This one-off event sees Carey manipulating Franklin's wildly rhythmic palette in real-time and in quadraphonic sound, incorporating his modular synthesis voice into the mix at Brunswick's recently minted Quadraphonic Club.
With support are double bassist/vocalist/composer polymath Helen Svoboda and elusive arranger of quiet texture/keyboard music Tim Coster, plus Nice Music/Nice Agency DJs in the front bar.
AAO Curates: MEATSHELL - NGV Fridays
Four ensembles across the month of July, showcasing the diversity and quality of artists and artistic practice in Australia’s contemporary musical landscape. The Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) joins NGV Friday nights to curate a visionary series of ensembles, assembled from a variety of its core members, collaborators, and artists from their broader community.
The AAO’s selections traverse new directions in jazz, innovative rap, folk music and far beyond, celebrating improvisation as a musical language that unites across borders and cultures.
12 JULY: MEATSHELL
Comprised of 2020 Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) associate artist recipient Helen Svoboda and Andrew Saragossi, experimental duo MEATSHELL cultivate unconventional sound worlds with a shared curiosity for the subtle beauty of things. Their performance will see them presenting a brand new repertoire that transcends traditional song forms and emphasises the power of storytelling through sound.
Helen Svoboda (Solo) - NEXUS/Illuminate
Nexus Arts and Illuminate Adelaide present double bassist, vocalist, and composer, Helen Svoboda who is a truly unique voice in the Australian jazz and art music landscape.
Svoboda’s solo practice explores the melodic potential of the contemporary double bass, intricately weaving extended techniques and overtones amidst abstract song-writing structures and vegetable-themed compositions.
“Svoboda plays and sings with astonishing grace and weightlessness” – The Journal of Music
Playful, expressive, and masterful, this is solo performance to entrance and astonish.
Dasika / Keller / Svoboda
Andrea Keller Curates:
Niran Dasika (trumpet), Helen Svoboda (double bass) & Andrea Keller (piano)
Helen Svoboda/The Odd River: Earshift Music Festival
Earshift Music is proud to celebrate 15 years with a showcase presenting Melbourne’s most ground-breaking jazz stars.
Presented by Brunswick Music Festival.
Helen Svoboda: The Odd River
The Odd River is Finnish-born Melbourne-based bassist vocalist composer Helen Svoboda’s surreal musical evocation of the collision of organic and inorganic, of the natural and unnatural.
Her driving inspiration is her environment, she is struck by the weirdness of what we have done to natural world – and happily admits to being obsessed with finding uncustomary sounds, and ways of playing her instrument. Her album under the same moniker has attracted critical international attention.
Helen Svoboda – vocals, bass, carrot crunching
Andrew Saragossi – saxophones, celery crunching
Daniel Waddingham — guitar, apple crunching
Jeremy Rose Quartet
Jeremy Rose – saxophone + effects
Andrea Keller – piano
Tilman Robinson – electronics
Joe Talia – drums
Michael Rother and Friends (with Panghalina) - MEL
Michael Rother (GER) and friends. Supported by Panghalina.
Michael Rother and Friends (with Panghalina) - BRIS
Michael Rother (GER) and friends. Supported by Panghalina.
