Welcome to the Australian Art Music playlist! A monthly playlist of classical, jazz, experimental and electronic music focused on contemporary Australian composers, musicians and sound artists.

We’re finally here! We made it to the end of the year. It has been an enormous year of change, crisis and perseverance. And support of our local music and musicians has never been more important.

I’m proud of the playlist and the Guide to Australian Composers documenting and sharing some of the incredible new artistic work being created. A snapshot of experiences, seeds of new connections and hopefully something to sate your curiosity, dear reader. 2025 has been an impressive year of releases, and I took great pleasure in revisiting previous albums, as well grabbing some last-minute releases to create this extra-large final collection.

As previously mentioned, this is our last playlist on Spotify. From January the playlist will be hosted on Bandcamp, where you can still listen to new music but also purchase your favourite albums to support their creators. I’m so excited to showcase this new format on Limelight in January. If you’d like to support this project, you can also join up to our Patreon for behind-the-scenes posts and perks. 

If you’re wanting more music to explore I’d always recommend the Australian Art Music Archive, with all 1,759 previously featured tracks (roughly 178 hours of music), Limelight’s Guide to Australian Composers, and my 2024 community listening project: 1,000 Curious Ears – all 12 monthly editions of that series can be found here. 

Until next year, may you have time to listen, to create and to recharge,

-Cameron

Tracklist

1. Colours Of My Dream by Judy Bailey | performed by Lauren Tsamouras & Tom Avgenicos
2. SKY-STAINED WAVES by Robert McIntyre | performed by Lindsay Hicks & Georgina Lewis
3. Leaf and Shadow by Peter Knight
4. Crepe Myrtle Sky by Deborah Cheetham Fraillon | performed by Alex Raineri & Rebecca Cassidy
5. Perpetual Motion by Jeremy Rose, Tully Ryan, Ben Carey, & Novak Manojlovic
6. Tempus Fugit from String Quartet by Aristea Mellos | performed by Flinders Quartet
7. Prestissimo from String Quartet No. 1 by Vanessa Perica | performed by Australian String Quartet
8. The Violet by Rachel Bruerville | performed by Belinda Gehlert, Emily Tulloch, Karen De Nardi, Anna Pokorny
9. Vertigo by Noriko Tadano | performed by Noriko Tadano & Australian String Quartet
10. The Weaver’s Knot by Liza Lim | performed by JACK Quartet
11. Kirribilli by Natalie Nicolas | performed by Matt Withers & Vatche Jambazian
12. Allies from After the Shipwreck by Oliver John Cameron (text by Luke Patterson) | performed by Louis Hurley, Isabella Bignasca, & Lee Dionne
13. three rivers – the afternoon river from Blackwood by Iain Grandage | performed by Sara Macliver, Allan Meyer, & Graeme Gilling
14. Through Tropical Stars by David Joseph | performed by Jennifer Newsome & Zdnek Bruderhans
15. Night Fragments by Lindsay Vickery | performed by Decibel New Music Ensemble
16. Click Farm by Nicole Murphy | performed by Ensemble Offspring
17. Listening for a While by Alexandra Spence
18. Open Heart by Cassie To
19. Adagietto cantando from Symphony No. 2 by Mark Isaacs | performed by Czech National Symphony Orchestra
20. so aflame in love from Piano Concerto No. 3 ‘Lebewohl’ by Elena Kats-Chernin | performed by Tamara-Anna Cislowska & Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Johannes Fritzsch
21. Running Man: The Witness I by Jessica O’Donoghue (text by Pierce Wilcox) | performed by Jessica O’Donoghue & Jack Symonds
22. Situ Koku by Aija Draguns | performed by The Australian Voices, conducted by John Rotar
23. Danny Boy adrift in the rising tide by Erik Griswold | performed by Lisa Moore
24. Bachram by Melody Eötvös | performed by Andrea Lam
25. Gift — Our Breath of Life (After Unungkati Yantatja) by William Barton | performed by William Barton & Omega Ensemble
26. Epiphany from Falling Ever Deeper by Paul Dean | performed by Lina Andonovska & Alex Raineri
27. Homeward from Wayfarers by Abigail Lui | performed by Cerulean Collective

Listen on Spotify

This playlist is updated monthly. Explore previous months’ playlists on our website and listen to the archive playlist on Spotify.

Contact Cameron Lam on Facebook, Instagram, his website or via direct email: aussieartmusic@gmail.com to recommend tracks for the Australian Art Music playlist.

Don’t forget that while streaming is a great way to discover new music, attending gigs or purchasing albums and merchandise is an even better way to support the artists you love. We’ve set up a Merch Table to get you started, but don’t forget to check out the artists’ websites for more details and other ways to support them.