TOM AVGENICOS
EORA,SYDNEY AWABAKAL,NEWCASTLE
Born in Sydney on May 2, 1996, trumpeter Tom Avgenicos grew up in a musical family. His father, an amateur trumpeter and avid fan of jazz, soul, and funk, introduced Tom and his older brother Michael (now a professional jazz saxophonist) to artists such as Miles Davis, James Brown, Joshua Redman, and the iconic Australian acid-jazz band D.I.G. (Directions in Groove). Tom began learning piano at the age of five before transitioning to the trumpet in his school band at age eight. His rapid progress, however, soon left both him and his brother disinterested in the school band program. Encouraged by their mother, they explored jazz improvisation through Jamey Aebersold play-along books, sparking Tom's enduring love for jazz.
During high school, Tom studied with legendary Australian jazz trumpeter Warwick Alder. Through various school band programs, he gained considerable international performance experience, playing at prestigious venues such as the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Smoke Jazz Club (NYC), the Midwest Clinic (Chicago), Musikverein (Austria), and the Sydney Opera House. He also performed alongside renowned jazz artists including Chris Potter, Dale Barlow, Emma Pask, and James Morrison. Tom was a three-time finalist in the James Morrison Generations in Jazz solo competition.
In 2015, Tom began studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying under esteemed mentors Phil Slater, Mike Nock, Mike Rivett and Matt McMahon. In 2016, he joined Mike Nock’s NOCTET and was invited to perform on several occasions with the iconic Australian jazz ensemble Ten Part Invention. The following year, he was the youngest finalist in his cohort at the National Jazz Awards, earning third place.
Having played together for several years in high school as members of the NSW Schools Jazz Orchestra, Tom officially formed his quartet, Delay 45, in 2018. They were awarded the Margaret and George Henderson Scholarship, facilitating a European tour to study with renowned musicians including Reiner Baas, Ben Van Gelder, and Jonas Burgwinkel. They also participated in the Siena International Summer Workshop in Italy under the tutelage of Ralph Alessi, Matt Mitchell, Ben Wendel, and Dave Binney. That same year, Tom graduated with Bachelor of Music (performance, jazz trumpet) with First Class Honours, earning the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence, the Outstanding Jazz Musician of the Year award, and the Global Mobility Scholarship, which supported a collaborative project in New Zealand. In 2023, Tom joined the jazz faculty as casual jazz lecturer at Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Tom released his debut album, Big Ears (Static Records), with Delay 45 in 2019. The Sydney Morning Herald's John Shand described the album as "a bold new chapter in Australian jazz." In 2020, he co-led two projects: Tuckerbox’s Dasch (Static Records), a Melbourne-Sydney collaboration, and Avgenicos Brothers' Treading Water (Earshift Music), an electroacoustic work with his brother Michael.
Delay 45’s sophomore album, Flux (2022), was met with critical acclaim. Rhythms Magazine praised it as “a giant step forward, a bold and mature statement by a quartet of young musicians assured of their artistry.” Supported by the Australia Council/Sydney Improvised Music Association Regional Touring Fund, Delay 45 extensively toured Australia.
In 2022, Tom was awarded the Freedman Jazz Fellowship, widely recognised as one of Australia’s most prestigious jazz awards. Using the fellowship, he developed Ghosts Between Streams, a groundbreaking multidisciplinary work that blends music, movement, lighting, and set design to push the boundaries of jazz performance.
As co-founder of Monday Night Confessions, an independent music series in Sydney, which has hosted renowned international artists, including Linda May Han Oh, Kevin Hays, and Fabian Almazan.
In 2023, Ghosts Between Streams premiered in Sydney at ACO Pier 2/3 to widespread acclaim. Limelight Magazine described it as “a work firmly rooted in Australian ground, unique and whole-hearted, that fills the space it’s given to stunning effect” (Maddy Briggs). Performances followed at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival and Perth International Jazz Festival.
The project returned in 2024 at the Sydney Fringe Festival as a site-specific performance at Sub Base Platypus, a historic former torpedo factory overlooking Sydney Harbour. The performance earned two Best in Festival awards—Best in Music and Best in Dance, and received a nomination for APRA Art Music Awards Performance of the Year: Jazz. Hannah Wilcox of the North Sydney Sun wrote, “The atmosphere was extraordinary, with haunting melodies piercing through the silence. Moments of agitation resolved into peaceful stillness, evoking a sense of being both lost and free.”
In 2025, the New Annual Festival ‘Made New’ Commission (City of Newcastle) to develop Ghosts Between Streams II, a new live AV work in collaboration with multimedia artist Jordan East (Rufus, Flight Facilities), furthering his exploration of cross-disciplinary approaches to music-making. The work traces the environmental history of the ancient Coquun/Hunter River. Transforming hundreds of hours of Hunter River field recordings and archival footage through experimental audiovisual technologies, the new work extends the genre-bending Ghosts Between Streams ensemble into new electroacoustic realms. The work premiered to a sold-out audience at the 2025 Festival and will be performed through 2026 in the Hunter Region and Sydney.
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Albums
As Leader / Co-Leader
Delay 45 ‘Big Ears’ (Static Records, 2019)
Tuckerbox ‘Dasch’ (Static Records, 2020)
Avgenicos Brothers ‘Treading Water’ (Earshift Music, 2020)
Delay 45 ‘Flux’ (Earshift Music, 2022)
Tom Avgenicos, Delay 45 & Ensemble Apex ‘Ghosts Between Streams’ (Earshift Music, 2025)
Lauren Tsamouras & Tom Avgenicos ‘For Judy’ (ABC Jazz, 2025)
Lauren Tsamouras & Tom Avgenicos ‘Bye For Now’ (ABC Jazz, 2026)
Delay 45 ‘I’ll Go Where You Go’ (Earshift Records, 2026)
Appears On
Tessie Overmyer ‘Tidelines’ (Earshift Records, 2025)
Wilbur Whitta ‘Wildfire’ (ABC Jazz, 2024)
Hamed Sadeghi ‘Empty Voices’ (Independent, 2024)
Lucy Clifford ‘Between Spaces of Knowing’ (ABC Jazz, 2024)
Jenna Cave ‘Grief, Hope, Love’ (ABC Jazz, 2024)
Jeremy Rose & Earshift Orchestra ‘Discordia’ (Earshift Records, 2024)
Jeremy Rose, Chloe Kim, Simon Barker & The Earshift Orchestra ‘Disruption! The Voice of Drums’ (Earshift Records, 2022)
Thibaud Kessell ‘Badlands’ (People Sound, 2020)
Chris Cody ‘Astrolabe’ (Independent, 2020)
Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connection ‘Big Band…!’ (ABC Jazz, 2019)
James Muller & SCJO ‘Okay’ (Independent, 2016)
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Awards/Honours
2025 Create NSW 'Creative Steps'
2025 New Annual ‘Made New’ Commission
2025 APRA Art Music Music Awards Performance of the Year: Jazz (Finalist)
2025 National Jazz Awards (Brass), 3rd Place
2024 APRA AMCOS Professional Development Award (Finalist)
2022 Creative Director and Curator for Monday Night Confessions (- present)
2022 Freedman Jazz Fellow
2022 SIMA Regional Touring Grant
2021 AAO Mentorship Program
2020 SIMA Mentorship Program
2018 Conservatorium Association ‘Outstanding Jazz Musician of the Year’
2018 University of Sydney ‘Margaret Henderson Scholarship’
2018 University of Sydney ‘Global Mobility Scholarship’
2018 Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Graduated with first-class honours
2017 National Jazz Awards (Brass), 3rd Place
2017 Sonic Futures Artist
2016 James Morrison GIJ Scholarship Finalist
2015 James Morrison GIJ Scholarship Finalist
2014 James Morrison GIJ Scholarship Finalist
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Qualifications
2018 Bachelor Music Performance (Jazz) (Honours), Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney
2018 International Diploma, Siena Accademia Nazionale Del Jazz, Italy