Kelly Ottaway has studied and lectured at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, has been the recipient of two Arts Tasmania grants and a Musicians Union of Tasmania study scholarship, and won the 2006 Hobart Jazz Club Jack Duffy Award for an outstanding musician. Playing piano, keyboards and vibraphone, he has performed over more than twenty years with leading Australian artists in jazz, funk and soul. In 2008, Kelly was a finalist in the APRA-Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra Big Band Composition Competition and in 2016, at his second attempt, become the overall winner of the competition. His primary interestin musicisjazz compositionand arranging,leading his jazz tentet ‘The Modern Operative’. Kelly also has a passion for music education, working with some of the leading schools and colleges that have a substantial performing arts program. He has held amajor role in the annual Stage Band Summer School at Elizabeth College as a tutor and a composer in residence. Kelly works extensively in the arts scene of Tasmania, involved in many local projects as part of internationally renowned festivals such as MONA FOMA, Dark MOFO and The Festival Called PANAMA. In 2021, Kelly represented the Clarence Jazz Festival as the Ambassador in Residence, as representative of the thriving jazz music scene in Hobart. Nationally, Kelly is involved with some of Australia’s leading big bands, as arranger and composer for such bands as the Dan Barnett Big Band and the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra.