On the Sydney leg of its tour, Melbourne-based improvisational outfit I Hold the Lion’s Paw stopped for air with a “grown-up” show at Newtown’s funky Church St Studios.

The qualifier there speaks to audience, not material: members trumpeter Reuben Lewis, vocalist/keys player Emily Bennett, bassist Adam Halliwell and drummer Ronny Ferella are also creators of Imagination Exploration, a children’s show currently being presented in schools around the country as a part of Musica Viva Australia’s Education program.

I Hold The Lion’s Paw performing Imagination Exploration. Photo © Musica Viva Australia

I Hold the Lion’s Paw is “free-wielding, jazz inspired ensemble that wants to situate improvisation as a key tool for making work”, Lewis and Bennett tell Limelight. Output can land anywhere between surf-rock-style grooves, left-field soundscapes and psychedelic jazz – depending on the day.

Made from the same stuff, Imagination Exploration is an improvisation-focused show that aims to impart children with the tools to walk into any space and “use anything at hand to make some fun music”, says Lewis.

“Improvisation [is something]  you can do with anything in front of you. Imagination Exploration isn’t about genre or the materials you have. It’s more about creating a space where what you’re inspired by or what is capturing your imagination is the material you work with.”

I Hold The Lion’s Paw performing Imagination Exploration. Photo © Studio Einwick

Imagination Exploration uses these same ingredients of Monday night’s grown-up performance – keen ears, virtuosity, curiosity, a boldness to commit to a choice and a sense of humour. Halliwell’s frenetic bass and a plume of granular trumpet pick up on Bennett’s cue as she starts to sing, “bouncy, bouncy, bouncy boys”, dissolving into stabs of sound.

“In Imagination Exploration, there’s a little song called Big Bois, which has come from studio recording of ours. I’ll throw it to the band – ‘hey, big boys, can you play scratchy sounds, or sunny sounds?’ Then, we ask the students for prompts, and we make up a song at the end with three different words,” explains Bennett.

It can get a bit mad. Bennett promises music teachers that they “balance calm with chaos”. Past prompts have included include ‘yeah yeah yeah, pika-pika, coconut’ (which made for a great surf-rock boogie track they later recorded) and the particularly memorable ‘avocado poop night’.

“The kids seeing us grapple in real time with how we’re going to make avocado sounds is a really special moment,” Lewis says. “It sort of breaks the perception that we’re untouchable musicians, but it gives them the thought that, ‘maybe I could do that as well’. ”

“The audience realises that they have an influence on what the music is going to be, and that it’s totally fine to make a mess of things, be completely foolish and silly and make mistakes.”

Other segments in Imagination Exploration include Snake Charmer, with drummer Ronny teaching simple polyrhythms, and a dice game that dictates a different dance move and a melody with each number.

The show, Lewis and Bennett say, has had an impact on the group as musicians, just as much as the impact they’ve brought to the kids. A particularly touching tour was to Gippsland, just following a massive windstorm which cut out most of the power to the town. Rocking up to a “tiny country town with 30 kids in this school”, they realised they had no power for their synths, amps or electronics.

“Rather than bail, we raided their music cupboard. We found everything from xylophones missing half their keys, little storm-makers [spring drums], a purple guitar that had three strings. Adam found a bass recorder, and we assembled this acoustic, trash-band version of the set,” said Lewis.

I Hold The Lion’s Paw performing Imagination Exploration. Photo © Studio Einwick

“That was gorgeous, because it was so much fun. The kids had a great time, and Adam got into the van and immediately bought himself a bass recorder. I just remember walking out, thinking, ‘this is what it’s all about’.”

Imagination Exploration has been a staple of MVA’s Education program for the last three years;  its accessibility initiatives was awarded the 2025 Art Music Award for Excellence in Music Education (“It’s really well-deserved,” says Lewis. “I still think about just how much care and rigour was put into that process.)

The show will  be brought back for MVA’s 2026 program. It’s a two-way thing: Prime Time, from the ensemble’s upcoming album, Potentially Interesting Jazz Music, kicks off with a group of school children – an Imagination Exploration audience – chanting the band’s name.

“The fact that we are still excited about another year of touring and can’t wait to see what the possibilities are is a testament to how well MVA runs the ship,” says Lewis. “It feels like this show has sharpened our concept of what we do, and allowed for more possibility and more messiness.”

“It’s added so much to our practice as musicians,” Bennett agrees. “My value is that the ideas are here and you just need to believe it and imagine it to do it. It sounds cheesy, but the most important thing is your imagination, to let that shine and let that lead you in different directions.”

More about Musica Viva Australia’s Education Program can be found here.