Xani Kolac

About Xani Kolac

Xani Kolac is a Naarm/Melbourne-based contemporary violinist, composer, improviser, and singer/songwriter, celebrated for redefining the electric violin's role in contemporary and improvised music. Her genre-hopping artistry seamlessly blends elements of pop, jazz, electronic, rock, folk, art-pop, and chamber music, often incorporating electronic effect pedals and live looping in her performances. In 2025, Xani Kolac released two albums: "Keep Moving," an Australian Music Prize-nominated studio album inspired by Krautrock, jazz, and rock, and a live improvised recording from The Jazzlab. She performed at international festivals such as Tallinn Music Week in Estonia and SXSW London, and held an Artist in Residence position at MONOM Studios in Berlin. Additionally, she opened for notable artists like Hania Rani and John Cale, and presented her acclaimed show, "An Inaccurate History of Electronic Dance Music," at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Kolac, an advocate for women and gender-diverse instrumentalists, was awarded Best Musician at the 2022 Music Victoria Awards and is a finalist in the Australian Art Music Awards for Jazz/Improvised Music Performance of the Year. She recently showcased new works in quadraphonic sound at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival and was selected to showcase at Classical:NEXT in Berlin in 2024.