Andy Fiddes

From humble beginnings in NSW country brass bands, Andy Fiddes is quietly gaining a reputation in Australia for being a creative jazz composer and performer. Andy began playing cornet at age 11, and quickly made his mark winning the NSW state junior Solo championships 6 months after picking up an instrument. From there it was no looking back, studying with John Kellaway in Newcastle, with notable performances as principal trumpet in the Australian premier of Andrew Schultz’s “Where the Dead Men Lie” and winning several State Championships and National titles with Newcastle Police Youth Club Brass.


Upon moving to Sydney, Andy studied baroque trumpet and classical repertoire with Peter Walmsley in addition to orchestration and harmony with Ian Shanahan and Anne Carr-Boyd as part of performance studies at the Sydney University Department of Music. From there he changed his focus to jazz, enrolling in the Sydney Conservatorium Bachelor of Jazz. Amongst others, Andy studied under Dick Montz, Gordon Brisker, Mike Nock and Phil Slater. During this time, Andy formed Survival of the Fiddes and his large ensemble Fiddaesthetic, featuring Gordon Brisker. He completed a Bachelor of Music in 2000 and Masters in Music (Jazz Performance) in 2008.

Since finishing study, Andy has developed a unique sonic signature with his composition, ranging from small to large ensemble writing, with two records as a bandleader to date: Survival of the Fiddes – fear smile, and Andy Fiddes – livewire. Both were released on Jazzgroove records and received critical acclaim.

A two-year stay in the United Kingdom afforded Andy the opportunity to perform with members of the F-ire collective, most notably the formation of a quartet including Pete Wareham and stellar drummer Seb Rochford of Acoustic Ladyland fame, and accomplished bassist Larry Bartley. This UK based group was part of a 4-band feature of Australian Jazz at the Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival in Rome.

Andy has also performed with Ten Part Invention, Lisa Mitchell, Guy Sebastian, Killing Heidi, Paul Dempsey, Camouflage – The Australian Army Big Band, Adrian Klumpes (TRIOSK, 3ofMillions), Laurence Pike (PVT), Phil Slater’s Very Interactive Band and Gordon Brisker.

Andy was a key member of the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra with which he has recorded albums featuring Montreux International Jazz singing competition winner Kristen Berardi, David Lisik (NZ) with trumpeter Alex Sipiagin (RUS) and Saxophonist Bob Shepherd (US) as well as composing and leading the recording of Fiddes vs Tinkler: featuring virtuoso Australian trumpeter Scott Tinkler.

His current musical projects include Newcastle’s Dungeon Big Band, his own small jazz ensembles Survival of the Fiddes and Livewire, solo works and solo trumpet performances in both classical, improvising and jazz spheres. Andy is a current member of the Sydney based Hourglass Ensemble.

AT THE FESTIVAL