Following the success of Ghosts Between Streams, the virtuosic genre-bending ensemble Delay 45 led by award-winning trumpet player and composer Tom Avgenicos (Freedman Fellow ’22) returns with its second iteration: a dynamic fusion of contemporary jazz, strings, and a powerful visual counterpoint which explores the environmental history of the ancient Coquun (Hunter River). With Ghost Between Streams winning Best in Music and Best in Dance at the 2024 Sydney Fringe Festival, this show is the Sydney debut of Avgenicos’ lauded new work which at its heart, this is a conversation between past and present.
Tom Avgenicos is a trumpeter, composer, and producer living and working between Muloobinba (Newcastle) and Gadigal (Sydney) across a diverse range of creative contexts, from contemporary classical and improvised music to collaborations with breakdancers and multimedia artists. Driven by environmental sustainability and a deep connection to place, Avgenicos seeks to create works that fosters meaningful dialogue between artists, performers and audiences.
His work has been performed at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre and MONA and internationally across Europe. Recent awards and recognitions include the Freedman Jazz Fellowship, Best in Music and Best in Dance at the 2024 Sydney Fringe Festival, a 2025 APRA Art Music Award nomination, and the 2025 Made New Commission. He leads the ensemble Delay 45 – a renowned cross-genre group who have developed a dynamic performance style that flows seamlessly between structure and spontaneity. Drawing from hip-hop, minimalism, modern jazz and contemporary classical music, simple and recurring motifs interspersed with tight-knit interplay and textural dynamism characterise their performance style.
“Like many fans of improvised music in Australia, I have keenly followed Tom Avgenicos’ career as he continues to grow into one of the country’s most restless and pre-eminent creative voices. Programming the Sydney debut of his new large ensemble work Ghosts Between Streams II, which premiered to acclaim at Newcastle’s New Annual Festival, was a no brainer for me. Expect to be blown away by not only his technical virtuosity, but also his mature sense of subtlety and the scope of his artistic vision. I can’t wait to see this multimedia show come together, and the walls of the Oxford Art Factory painted with this story, through both music and image. This night will also feature the presentation of new commissioned works by this year’s recipient of the Judy Bailey Emerging Composers Award in Sabine Tapia, celebrating the legacy of the great composer, improviser and teacher Judy Bailey as well as Sabine’s significant contributions to the rich creative landscape of Sydney. We are ecstatic to be able to afford this opportunity to Sabine and to play some small part in preserving Judy Bailey’s profound artistic legacy.” – Novak Manojlovic
