Expanding Australian Guitar Repertoire

Through performance, recording, collaboration, and commissioning, Sydney Guitar Collective seeks to build a deeper public awareness of Australian guitar repertoire and support both established and emerging composers. At the heart of our work is a passion for expanding what can be written, performed, and heard on the classical guitar. We actively contribute to this growing repertoire through commissioning, composition, and arrangement. Sydney Guitar Collective member Manuel Diewald has composed two works for the ensemble, Celestial and Poetic Suites, with Celestial premiered by Sydney Guitar Collective in concert in 2025. Tobi Dracoulis has also created an arrangement called Melasti for guitar and Balinese Gamelan, premiered during our collaboration with Suwitra Jaya, bringing classical guitar together with traditional Indonesian instruments and musical traditions. This collaboration also included the commissioning of Ngubeng, a new work for classical guitar and Gamelan by Australian composer Eitan Muir. Our commissioning work includes Mechanical Fantasy and Dreamwalking by Jalal Ahmed, Notion by Julia Vlahogiannis, and Estuary Amber by Tom Baltaks. Richard Charlton has also generously written Port Jackson Suite specifically for Sydney Guitar Collective as a contribution to our growing Australian guitar repertoire. We have also recorded an album featuring Australian works, which will be released in late 2026, helping to document and share this music with a wider audience.
 

We believe the classical guitar has far more to offer than its traditional stereotype. Through our concerts, recordings, and collaborations, Sydney Guitar Collective aims to demonstrate the instrument’s versatility, colour, and expressive potential while championing Australian composers and Australian guitar music. Each year, Sydney Guitar Collective seeks to work with Australian composers and musicians in new ways through commissioning, collaboration, arrangement, performance, and recording. Our goal is to help build a stronger Australian guitar music scene for today’s musicians and future generations of guitarists, while creating a lasting body of repertoire that reflects the creativity and diversity of Australian music.

By supporting Sydney Guitar Collective, you help us commission and create new Australian music, collaborate with Australian composers and musicians, and record and share new repertoire, contributing to a vibrant and lasting future for Australian guitar music.