This year's Wangaratta Festival delivered two outstanding performances of extended works composed for large ensembles: Dave Douglas's suite Fabliaux and Lloyd Swanton's Ambon, inspired by his uncle's experiences as a prisoner of war from 1942–45.

American trumpeter Dave Douglas has been a leading figure in jazz since the early 1990s, when he first rose to prominence as a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet. A restless musician, he has fronted numerous ensembles, and recorded prolifically, most recently for his own Greenleaf label. It was his guest appearance at the Adelaide Festival, in March 2014, as part the John Zorn concert series, that afforded Douglas the opportunity to engage in a collaborative project with the Monash Art Ensemble; and his extended composition Fabliaux for four ensembles, written expressly for the project, was rehearsed and performed, then subsequently recorded, during that visit.