duo aki
about us
Duo Aki (ジュオ秋), comprised of Eden Annesley (violin/looper pedal) and Lola Schuele (saxophone/shakuhachi), is an ensemble working in the nexus of Australian and Japanese classical and contemporary music.
Formed under a meeting through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Colombo Plan Scholarship in Japan, Duo Aki creates projects to explore narratives of environment and identity across cultures. Duo Aki champions original improvisatory works alongside underrepresented Australian female composers, heralding a new voice in the Australian arts.
The ensemble also collaborates with artists across visual, electronic and movement-based art forms, exploring the limits of saxophone, violin and the world in between. Hailing from regional centres across Australia, both Eden and Lola are passionate about promoting accessibility to musical engagement and shifting the mould of Australian classical music.
Eden Annesley
New Colombo Plan scholar and winner of the Junior Category of the Queensland International Chamber Music Competition, Eden Annesley is a violinist based in Brisbane/Meanjin. Growing up in Grafton, she participated in ensemble collaborations with Arcadia Winds and the Partridge String Quartet during Musica Viva regional touring. She obtained her Bachelor of Music (Distinction) at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, with Associate Professor Michele Walsh, graduating as the highest-achieving third year student.
Eden has performed across Australia as part of the Australian Youth Orchestra, Queensland Youth Symphony and Ensemble Q. Sponsored by the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan, Eden undertook a year of exchange in Yamanashi, Japan, researching Japanese cultural influences in the music of Tōru Takemitsu. In 2025, she will be mentored by the New Zealand String Quartet as part of their inaugural fellowship ensemble, the Antipodes Quartet, as well as playing with Duo Aki at the Osaka World Expo.
Lola Schuele
Lola Schuele is a award-winning multi-instrumentalist originally from Cairns, who has toured across Asia with the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Japan-based Worldship Orchestra and across Tokyo with renowned shakuhachi player, Akikazu Nakamura. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music Performance in bassoon performance (First Class Honours) from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Lyndon Watts.
As a recipient of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Colombo Plan Scholarship, she was supported to live and work in Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan for 18 months. She has been selected for the Australian Youth Orchestra and was the winner of the Pete L’Estrange Music Prize at The University of Melbourne in 2022. Lola is also an active curator in Melbourne’s art scene, through engagements with Buxton Contemporary and UMSU Mudfest Festival, and now internationally through her engagement with Duo Aki at the Osaka World Expo.
