Aaron Choulai is a highly accomplished composer and musician. Judging by the wonderful performances I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy over the last couple of years, he’s also doing an excellent job as the director of the Australian Art Orchestra.

But, like many artists, he wriggles a bit uncomfortably when it comes to talking about his work. This is the case when, on Wednesday night, Choulai emerges from the shadows to introduce, before conducting, his latest composition, Smoke Between Mountains.

He needn’t have worried. Choulai’s introduction to this blend of Indigenous Australian and Japanese traditions captures his intercultural appreciation and sensibilities. As with 2025’s magnificent Ane Ta Abia, which brought together a Papua New Guinean choir and a jazz ensemble, the rest of the night is a quietly confident demonstration both of Choulai’s talents as a composer and of his ability to reach across musical, visual and cultural worlds.

Smoke Between Mountains at the Immigration Museum, Melbourne. Photo © Australian Art Orchestra

Smoke Between Mountains was inspired when, while on tour in Osaka, Choulai watched musicians Kutcha Edwards and Miyama McQueen-Tokita discover a shared understanding between First Nations Australian and Japanese...