Dr Ross McHenry is a multi-award-winning producer, composer, bassist, and arts industry leader whose practice spans contemporary improvised music, chamber music, and the development of interdisciplinary new work.

Specialising in new work creation and presentation, Ross’ practice brings together artists, producers, and organisations to realise ambitious interdisciplinary projects that span music, theatre, and mixed media. He has overseen the delivery of major theatrical, screen and musical works that have toured nationally and internationally, engaging audiences across Europe, Asia, and North America. As both producer and composer, he has cultivated relationships with leading artists and ensembles around the world, positioning Australian work within a global context while fostering meaningful artistic exchange and discourse.

As a composer and performer, Ross has built a global reputation for his fearless approach to collaboration and sonic exploration. His extensive discography—as a bandleader and collaborator traces an evolving artistic trajectory rooted in creative improvisation and jazz practice. His work has been presented at major festivals including Glastonbury, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Splendour in the Grass, and the Wellington International Jazz Festival, and at leading venues such as the Melbourne Recital Centre and Ronnie Scott’s.

Ross is currently the Executive Producer of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, where he leads artistic strategy, programming, and the commissioning of new work across genres and forms. His approach is defined by a commitment to artist-led creative processes and the creation of extraordinary artistic experiences that challenge convention and expand the possibilities of contemporary performance.

Prior to joining the ACO, Ross was Executive Director of Windmill Theatre Company, Australia’s leading new work theatre company for children and young people. As part of Windmill’s senior leadership team, he helped guide the organisation through a period of significant artistic growth and structural transition, including the expansion of international touring programs and the production of large-scale new work. His leadership across both institutions reflects a rare duality: a deep engagement with artistic practice alongside a capacity to lead complex creative organisations.

Ross holds a PhD in jazz composition from the Elder Conservatoriym, and his research explores the nature of creativity in individual and group practice. Ross’ contributions to the Australian arts sector have been recognised with major honours including the APRA AMCOS Art Music Award for Excellence in Jazz and State Luminary Award (SA), and the Arts South Australia Ruby Award. He is an Australian Music Centre Associate Artist, and a respected advocate for the role of the arts in civic and cultural life.

- - - - - - - -

“Brilliance in abundance (…) unremitting power and virtuosity (…) McHenry is creating his own oevre”

THE AUSTRALIAN

“Ceaselessly Imaginative (…), an inveterate explorer”

RHYTHMS MAGAZINE

“McHenry is an artist with a powerful vision”

STEREOPHILE

“Formidable, agile, and ever-imaginative”

TEXTURA

“A rare symbiosis of boundary-pushing experimentation, stop-on-a-dime collaboration, dense harmonics and lamenting melodies all adding up to the kind of textural soundscape that lingers in the brain long after silence ensues (…) It took him five albums but McHenry now has his masterpiece”

GOLDMINE MAGAZINE

“Meditative and oceanic (…) breathtakingly beautiful and turbulent.”

DOWNBEAT

"withering brilliance and overpowering musicality"

"the spirit of Jaco Pastorius is alive in McHenry’s playing"

THE AUSTRALIAN

Superb musicianship (…) McHenry gives each piece a distinctive arc, with enough room to tell a compelling story that repays re-listening

ALL ABOUT JAZZ

Like (Keith) Jarrett, McHenry succeeds in being easy on the ear without sacrificing complexity. The best of his compositions function like journeys, often arriving at destinations far from where they started (…McHenry is) a talent deserving of our attention.

RHYTHMS MAGAZINE

“You won't find fault with any track here. McHenry hits the mark with another superb recording that's adventurous and engaging. He's becoming one of the most prolific musicians on the scene today.”

THE BASIC SOUL SHOW

“The Future of Australian Jazz”

PBS FM

“A dramatic and cinematic musical landscape, bringing poetry to life through sound”

JAZZ LIFE JAPAN

“Be on the lookout for Ross McHenry. The man is going places”

NEXTBOP

"Absurdly Prolific"

SCENESTR MAGAZINE

"Explosions of color, disciplined dynamics, and glorious rhythmic invention"

"a mysterious, joyous amalgam of unified sounds that doesn't so much reflect musical traditions as explore the untended spaces around and beyond them"

ALLMUSIC.COM

"McHenry's got a style that's visionary"

DUSTY GROOVE

"A formidable force in modern Australian jazz"

EAST SIDE RADIO

“Ross McHenry has taken on the baton from the legendary Jaco Pastorius”

JAZZ WEEKLY

- - - - - - -

AWARDS

Winner 2020APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards State Luminary Award (SA)

Winner 2020 Ruby Award Best Work Outside of a Festival, Nothing Remains Unchanged

Winner 2019 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards Excellence in Jazz

Winner 2017 Jazz/Art Music Award, South Australian Music Awards

Winner 2014 Best Jazz Artist Fowlers Live Music Awards (Now known as South Australian Music Awards)

Winner 2014 Achievement Award for contribution to SA music sector, Fowlers Live Music Awards

- - - - - - -

Winner 2021 Elder Conservatorium Prize for Excellence in Postgraduate Research

Winner 2022 Best Jazz Artist, SA Music Awards (Shaolin Afronauts)

- - - - - - - -

Solo releases

Waves (Earshift Records) 2024

Nothing Remains Unchanged (First Word Records 2020)

The Outsiders (First Word Records 2017)

Child of Somebody (First Word Records 2016)

Distant Oceans (First Word Records 2013)

- - - - - - - -

Releases with Shaolin Afronauts

The Fundamental Nature of Being Part 1 - 5 (Freestyle Records 2022)

Follow the Path (Freestyle Records 2014)

Quest Under Capricorn (Freestyle Records 2012)

Flight of the Ancients (Freestyle Records 2011)