Don Gomes & Aya Sekine

Don Gomes is recognized as one of Southeast Asia's finest jazz talents. He is in demand across Australia and Asia for his skill as a pianist, arranger, musical director, performer and composer. Don has studied jazz in New York with Andy LaVerne and Steve Kuhn and has represented Australia in the Martial Solal International Jazz Competition in Paris.

Don’s international musical credits include Johnny Griffin, Herb Ellis, Ronnie Scott, Jeff and John Clayton, Scott Hamilton, Vincent Herring, Don Menza and Bill Berry, Pete King, Bobby Shew, Pete Christleib, Red Holt and Eldee Young, Tommy Whittle, Venetta Fields, Junior Cook, Sheila Jordan and Miles Davis.

Aya Sekine is a Japanese jazz pianist/composer currently based in Singapore who has been performing internationally over the past 25 years. Born into a family of music lovers, her musical journey has begun as early as 4, and never stopped ever since.

She is best known for her soulful and dynamic style of jazz that is heavily influenced by Bebop and straight-ahead. Over the years Aya has been mentored by Yuki Arimasa and Aaron Goldberg who are not only great jazz pianists but highly acclaimed educators, but what makes her ultimately unique is her wide spectrum of music influences cultivated through years of improvisations and cross genre collaborations with artists from different genres. While being passionate about jazz, she had also been a part of experimental underground music scene in New York City during the 90’s where she was involved in alternative music such as rockabilly, surf music, hardcore punk and noise.

She holds a diploma in performance from Berklee College of Music, BA in Jazz Performance and MA in Arts & Cultural Management from LASALLE College of The Arts. Besides being an established artist, she has been integral to the scene as an educator and a strong advocate for jazz and the community. She is a director of a non-profit We Love Jazz (Singapore) Ltd., and a director of multi-faceted music agency Bon Goût Music.

April 24 & 25, 9PM
Admission fee RM64 
*RM10 off for students with valid Student ID, at the door.