Reuben Lewis

“In a sea of pedestrians, Reuben stands out as an intrepid explorer.” - Julien Wilson
Reuben Lewis’s practice is both singular and eclectic. As an active composer and bandleader he has refined a diverse electro-acoustic language, devised through trumpet with extended techniques and preparations alongside live analogue processing with pedals and samplers, that is as much at home in a beer-stained nightclub or theatre space as it is on a hilltop in Malaysia surrounded by dancers and bull-trance shamans. Reuben considers improvisation to be at the core of his artistic practice, both as a vehicle for meaningful collaboration that transcends stylistic or disciplinary boundaries as well as a fundamental philosophy behind making new work.

Reuben has become widely known for his strong artistic vision and ability to bring people together. His latest studio album, titled Abstract Playgrounds, was released through Earshift Music and gained international acclaim – including a glowing review in ‘The Wire’ magazine and a nomination for the Best Australian Jazz Ensemble at the Bell Awards for his ensemble I Hold the Lion’s Paw (IHTLP). Subsequently, he produced a successful Australian tour for IHTLP with high profile performances at the SIMA Jazz Series and Wangaratta Jazz Festival in 2018.

Other notable commissions include his multidisciplinary work i know that i know, which premiered at the 2017 Melbourne Festival with the ensemble ACME, Sleep Talk for the contemporary jazz orchestra UNFIX featuring vocalist Georgie Darvidis and the Penny String Quartet, as well as the Instagram work The World Died Today While You Were On Your Phone commissioned by the Art, Not Apart Festival for I Hold the Great Rack in 2020. Selected compositions can also be found in the Australian Jazz Real Book.

Since 2012, Reuben has maintained a regular international schedule of self-directed, funded and freelance engagements in Germany, France, Denmark, Netherlands, USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Norway, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2017, he performed an 8-hour durational sleep concert with The Phonetic Orchestra at the Serralves Festival in Portugal and co-produced their 24-hour concert Silent Towns streamed live from Germany and Australia in 2020.

Reuben’s long-standing association with the internationally acclaimed dancer, director, choreographer and visual artist, Tony Yap has seen him regularly premiere new collaborative works across Australia and Southeast Asia, such as I am Ding Chai at the 2017 AsiaTOPA festival, Love Fall at the 2018 ButohOut! festival, as well as multiple pieces at the MAP Melaka festivals from 2015-2019. Other acclaimed cross-disciplinary collaborative projects include Inflorescence with visual artist Dianne Fogwell, premiered at the 2015 You Are Here festival, Waterfalls Plunge into The Abyss, written in 2016 by Bambang N Karim and premiered in Java, Indonesia, as well as Memoir for Rivers and The Dictator by Lilian Steiner, commissioned as part of the 2018 Keir Choreographic Award and premiered as a 50 minute work at Dance Massive in 2019.

Reuben has featured on several critically acclaimed releases as diverse as Westside Movements and Avenues by Melbourne based producer Loure, Cold Radish Coma and Elevate by renowned Melbourne nu-soul outfit 30/70, Space Klezmer by the chaos infused large ensemble YID, as well as Half Mile Harvest and Live at the Forum by multi-ARIA winning band The Teskey Brothers.

As a music producer, Reuben has developed a character that is as distinctive as his performance practice. Alongside his production work for multiple projects with I Hold the Lion’s, Tony Yap Company, The Phonetic Orchestra and I Hold the Great Rack, he has co-produced and co-recorded many releases as a freelance engineer.

Reuben has managed, curated and produced multiple major tours, projects and media campaigns as an independent artist including the DUODUO festival for the Lebowskis Music Series and a release for the Little Songs of the Mutilated recording series. Through his work with the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO), Reuben co-produced and managed the Of Deities and Demons national tour in 2019 and the international tour of Nicole Lizée’s Karappo Okesutura Volume 3 to Canada in 2020. Reuben also co-produced the AAO Mini Masterclass Series and various other online AAO initiatives as well as co-manages the AAO Recordings Label.

As a published writer, Reuben’s work can be found in the Bloomsbury Press publication of the academic edition; ‘The Aesthetics of Imperfection in Music and the Arts; Spontaneity, Flaws and the Unfinished’, a collection of essays and interviews centred round the notion of the accidental in creativity and edited by Andy Hamilton and Lara Pearson.

Reuben was appointed to the role of Associate Artist, as part of the Australian Art Orchestra’s Pathfinders – Music Leadership Program for 2019/2020 as well as the 2020-2021 AMC Artistic Associate for Jazzahead! and was nominated for a Freedman Jazz Fellowship in 2018 and 2019. In 2015, Reuben attended the inaugural MAP Delhi residency with the Tony Yap Dance Company was a participant in The Australian Art Orchestra’s Creative Music Intensive in 2015, 2016 and 2019. I Hold the Lion’s Paw was selected for the inaugural Lebowski’s Development Residency in 2016 and maintained a monthly residency at iconic Melbourne venue, The Brunswick Green from 2017-2020. In 2015, The Phonetic Orchestra participated in a collaborative residency with Norwegian new-music collective The Kitchen Orchestra in Stavanger, Norway as well as attended the 2017 Sonascopia Creative Residency in Porto, Portugal.

Various associated projects have received funding for creative development, touring and new works by distinguished Australian funding bodies, including the Australia Council, Creative Victoria, Arts ACT and the Ian Potter Foundation.