Featured in ArtsHub’s 2025 wrap-up
about us
The sound of the violin, sax and shakuhachi collide in Australia’s newest genre-bending ensemble, Duo Aki (デュオ秋).
Equally comfortable on the stages of the Osaka World Expo, to the small halls of regional Australia, Duo Aki’s mission is to bring Japan and Australia closer, bridge the gap between performers and composers, and unite musical traditions of classical, contemporary, folk and electronic music.
Born in Tokyo, where violinist Eden Annesley and saxophonist/shakuhachi player Lola Schuele were living, the duo push the boundaries of both instruments as a gateway to musical collaboration with diverse art forms including multimedia designer Monica Vejgaard.
Their show before/now/after was described as “beautiful, interesting and evocative,” by celebrated Australian musicians Gina Williams AM and Guy Ghouse AM. Their name Aki is a nod to both the Japanese season of spring, and one of their musical mentors, shakuhachi master Akikazu ‘Aki’ Nakamura.
In 2026, they toured regional NSW and received prestigious mentorship opportunities with Ensemble Offspring and Topology’s Launchpad Mentorship Program.
When not performing or composing, Lola and Eden can be found hunting down the best coffee in town and reminiscing on dinners with their Japanese host family.
Eden Annesley
Winner of the Junior Category of the Queensland International Chamber Music Competition, Eden Annesley is a violinist raised in Grafton, regional NSW. She studied under Associate Professor Michele Walsh at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, graduating with First Class Honours and the University Medal.
In 2025 she was a founding member of the Antipodes Quartet, working under the close mentorship of the New Zealand String Quartet. With the Antipodes Quartet, Eden undertook an extensive national tour across New Zealand and in 2026 and will appear at the Adam International Chamber Music Festival.
Eden also played as a Guest Artist with the New Zealand String Quartet. Eden has performed as part of some of Australia’s best ensembles, notably the Australian World Orchestra’s AWO 6 project, Ensemble Q, Arcadia Winds, the Partridge Quartet and the Australian Youth Orchestra.
Alongside her artistic pursuits, she was also selected as one of Australia’s top undergraduate students for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Colombo Plan Scholarship, leading her to spend a year in Japan researching cultural influences in Tōru Takemitsu’s music. Her passion for music as a tool of cross-cultural exchange led her to co-found Duo Aki with saxophonist Lola Schuele, where she represented Australia at the Cultural Pavilion 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.
