Adrian Kelly : Member Profile : Music Arrangers' Guild of Australia

Score: Fanfare and Reflections
© Adrian Kelly

Audio: Fanfare and Reflections
© Adrian Kelly

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Adrian Kelly completed a Bachelor of Music (Jazz) at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1995, where he majored in trumpet and composition.  He has also undertaken postgraduate study in classical music and tertiary education, as well as conducting research into the musical theatre.  

Adrian has performed as a trumpet player for many international artists including Ray Charles, Shirley Bassey, Wayne Newton, Tim Rice, The Manhattan Transfer, Dave Weckl, and Gene Pitney.  He has appeared in concert performances with numerous Australian acts including the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, James Morrison, Ben Folds, Ben Lee, John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John, Rhonda Burchmore, Tom Burlinson, Todd McKenny, and Anthony Warlow.   Adrian also maintains an active profile as a jazz lead trumpet player with Western Australian big bands, Hip Mo’ Toast, the Perth Jazz Orchestra, and the One For All Big Band.  He recently returned from a tour of Asia performing with Jacky Cheung (the world’s highest earning non-english speaking artist) in 30 cities to audiences of up to 60 000 people.  

In the theatre, Adrian has performed in excess of 30 shows including the Australian premiere performance of The Wild Party, and the Australian tours of Hugh Jackman: The Boy from Oz, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Dirty Dancing, Dusty, Saturday Night Fever, Fiddler on the Roof, and Shout. In the field of classical music he has recently performed with the Australian Ballet, the Kiev Ballet, and was featured as a soloist in the Perth Pops Orchestra’s 2008 Best of British concert.  

Adrian’s jazz compositions have been performed at the Manly International Jazz Festival on two occasions, and at Fox Studios during the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival in 2000, as well as numerous locations throughout Western Australia. One of his works was performed at the 2008 International Trumpet Guild Conference by an ensemble including renowned trumpet players Alan Vizutti and Tony Kadleck.

Since completing his studies of classical composition in 1998, Adrian has founded two new music ensembles; Pantheon, an improvising ensemble that in 1999 reached the finals of the ABC’s improvisation awards, and The Collective, a 15 piece collective created as a vehicle for composers to experiment with crossing the boundaries of musical style in a large ensemble. A compact disc of The Collective, featuring the compositions of Graeme Collier received rave reviews world wide.

Adrian’s compositional work includes composing music for the play Stella and the Moonman, which premiered at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2005. His composition ‘Taking a Break’ appears on the West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra compact disc 'Tom Terrific', and a compact disc by the Hip Mo’ Toast Big Band entitled 'Mischievous Girl' features three original songs by Adrian, and one original arrangement, in addition to his work as a trumpet player.

As a session player, Adrian has performed on many television commercials and documentaries, including the solo trumpet on the award winning documentary Child Soldiers, and regularly performs with the WA Philharmonic.  He has appeared on CD recordings by artists throughout Asia (including releases from the Maldives, Hong Kong, and China in addition to numerous Australian recordings), and recently released internationally a CD of his own compositions.  This CD entitled 'Intercontinental Drift' features a West Australian rhythm section and a trumpet section comprising of Adrian in collaboration with 5 top US performers.  

In his capacity as an educator, Adrian lectures at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, directs the University of Western Australia big band, and teaches trumpet and composition for local secondary schools.