Work TBA
Composed for Lewis Grey
Commissioned by the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) as part of the ANAM Set 2026 and written for Lewis Grey, to be premiered during ANAM’s 2026 recital season at the Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne.
The 2026 ANAM Set commissions are supported by the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation.
About the composer:
Max Kielly (he/him) is a Naarm-based composer and pianist, writing contemporary concert music that blends themes of fragility, improvisation, and liminal spaces, drawing on a variety of stylistic influences from Jazz to contemporary minimalism and pop. His music focuses on capturing and responding to specific experiences – longing, nostalgia, and queer identity. Studying at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Bachelor of Music), Max has studied composition with Elliott Gyger, Melody Eötvös, Christine McCombe, and Robert Constable AM.
He has written for and collaborated with many accomplished performers and ensembles both in Australia and internationally. In 2026, his work Towards a Better Day was premiered by The Melbourne Chamber Choir at the Abbotsford Convent, whilst his Saxophone Quintet, We May Never Meet Again, was premiered by Tom Lowe at the World Saxophone Congress in Harbin, China. Later in the year, an arrangement of We May Never Meet Again for Soprano Saxophone and Piano was premiered on 3MBS. His Clarinet Trio, Aubade of a Broken Sky, was recently premiered in early October by Ensemble Liaison at the Athenaeum Club, winning the 2025 Athenaeum Club composition prize.
Max is based in Naarm (Melbourne), but calls Kangaroo Valley, NSW on the lands of the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal Nation home.
Website: https://www.maxkiellycomposer.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxkielly/
Image credit: Kenneth Chai, supplied by composer.