Pat Jaffe

Pat Jaffe is a pianist/composer from Melbourne, Australia who creates music that sits somewhere at the midpoint between the jazz and classical genres. While at school he was mentored by the legendary South African pianist Howard Belling (from the age of eight up until eighteen) and more recently has studied with Tim Stevens and Nico Muhly.Pat was the recipient of the 2020 Allan Zavod Performers’ Award, for performance of an original composition that fuses classical music with improvisation. In 2019 he recorded with the Monash Art Ensemble and the Jonathan Cooper Quintet before spending the second half of the year based in Denmark.In January 2020, Pat visited Masterkey Studios in Reykjavík to record his debut album, Eldorado, with acclaimed producer/engineer Sturla Mio Þórisson. The album (released in October, 2020) is mainly composed of solo piano works but also includes two tracks with the Icelandic chamber ensemble, Siggi String Quartet.Pat has recently worked as an arranger with Nai Palm (Hiatus Kaiyote) and collaborated with Academy Award winning singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová. His 2021 release, A Sanctuary of Quietude, co-composed with Callum Mintzis, was named as a finalist in the Performance of the Year – Jazz/Improvised Music category of the 2022 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards.He also plays Double Bass, works as a climate change economist and competes in running and orienteering races.