DIRECTOR

Sia Ahmad is a songwriter, artist, improviser, curator and facilitator. Over the last two decades, she has brought an outsider's eye and DIY ethos to the way she brings communities together.

An Art Music Awards winner and Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address lecturer, Sia has released a wide spectrum of original music around the world alongside her commissioned work in sound design, installation pieces, and contemporary classical composition. Her creative practice brings together the punk-first approach of her youth with an exploratory take on her Bangladeshi heritage. 

In parallel to her role for MusicACT, Sia also manages the Artist Accelerator Program for Music In Exile. Sia is currently a board director for the Australian Music Centre and Earshift Music, previously having served on the boards of the Australian Art Orchestra and Girls Rock! Canberra. From 2018 to 2021, she was a member of the ACT Ministers’ Creative Council and the LGBTIQA+ Ministerial Advisory Council.

Contact: sia@musicact.com.au

PROGRAM MANAGER

Aaron Crowe is a live music booker and promoter based in Canberra. He developed his passion for music after moving to the ACT in 2013, attending shows at The Phoenix and discovering artists like TV Colours.

Aaron’s career in the music industry began in 2022 at the iconic Canberra live music venue and nightclub, sideway, where he played a pivotal role in nurturing both emerging and established local talent. Working closely with artists and members of the Canberra DIY scene, he also brought renowned acts from underground music scenes across Australia and internationally to the city.

Following sideway’s closure in 2024, Aaron continues to book and promote independent, punk, underground, and countercultural music events through Sonic Business Ltd, working across a variety of live music venues in Canberra. In addition to his promotional work, Aaron plays bass in the latest iteration of the unstoppable Canberra power-pop band, New Age Group.

With a strong commitment to fostering Canberra’s vibrant music scene and building sustainable communities, Aaron is dedicated to supporting the local music community and its continued growth.

Contact: aaron@musicact.com.au

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Advait grew up in Canberra, coming of age and participating in a DIY scene that cohered in the city around 2008, then moving to the U.S.A. in 2010 to study, live, and work, before returning to Canberra at the end of 2024. With a foundational educational experience in furniture design and agricultural economics, alongside several years working and volunteering within arts and music institutions (including BLACK HOLE, a Los Angeles centre for spatialised multi-channel audio now based in Tokyo), Advait’s creative and professional practice remains mostly ordered around listening for context and participating in social processes.

As Communications Officer at MusicACT, Advait hopes to express and encourage the particularities of Canberra’s music ecosystem, not least in order to connect this city to other regional and metropolitan hubs across Australia, and to reiterate that Australia is an island off the coast of Asia.

Contact: comms@musicact.com.au