Raised in Yorta Yorta country in northern Victoria, Aditya Ryan Bhat developed an early and alarming predilection for tapping on his own head. Concerned parents resolved to redirect these latent percussive impulses to a less hazardous outlet and enrolled him in drum lessons. From there (more-or-less), it has been an evolving journey of finding ever more delightful and strange things to hit!
Aditya has completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at the University of Melbourne. Enthusiastic about collaboration, Aditya seeks out new ways to bring together varied interests including avant-garde music, jazz, electronics, improvisation, and the Indian musical styles of his heritage. Favourite pastimes include scavenging in scrapyards for instruments, recording ambient sounds while out on a walk, and trying to bow unlikely objects. Although an experimentalist at heart, with a penchant for polystyrene, Aditya is at home in more traditional settings - whether whispering sweet nothings to the bass drum up the back of an orchestra or smashing out a theka on tabla. In 2024, Aditya has the privilege of undertaking a third year at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), under the guidance of Peter Neville and John Arcaro.
Outside of music, Aditya spends time pondering how to make desserts that cater to his friends’ numerous dietary requirements, exploring Melbourne by bike, and reading about history and cultures.
FROM: VIC. Lands of the Yorta Yorta people.
Aditya is supported by ANAM Syndicate donors Christina and Terry Hart, Igor Zambelli, John and Sue North, Annie Chapman, Kerry Landman, and the Estelle Redlich Circle
Aditya was the recipient of the David Richards Performance Award for the Most Outstanding Performance of a Contemporary Composition or New Work in an ANAM Recital in both 2022 and 2023. He also won the Engagement Award for Creative Concepts and Writing in 2022.
Photo credit Pia Johnson