Photo by Buio Assis
Ashley Au is a Winnipeg-based bassist, composer, sound artist, arranger, and queer creative. A multifaceted musician, Ashley specializes in the upright and electric basses—performing, touring and recording extensively. As a composer and sound artist, Ashley’s work can be found behind various theatre, opera and dance productions as well as Winnipeg’s ephemeral pop-up stages.
After completing a degree in Jazz Bass Performance (B. Mus) at Brandon University, under the direction of Michael Cain, Greg Gatien, Eric Platz, and Gilles Fournier, Ashley has become an active member of Winnipeg’s arts and cultural community as a performer, administrator and organizer.
As an administrator, Ashley has worked in literary publishing, visual arts, dance, and of course, music. Ashley is the artistic director of Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival and the stage producer for the Pride Winnipeg Festival. She also co-ordinates a BIPOC poetry writing workshop series through Contemporary Verse 2, Canada’s oldest poetry journal.
On rare occasions, Ashley can be found moonlighting as a DJ under the alias, Chairman Au.
Current and past projects include work with Weakerthans frontman, John K. Samson; folk roots songstress, Carly Dow; internationally-acclaimed Americana tastemaker, Scott Nolan; composer/trumpeter Chuck Copanace; Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers; and Polaris Prize-nominated Canadian live hip-hop outfit, Super Duty Tough Work.