Based in Germany, Canada, and Australia, Mammalian Diving Reflex is a research-art atelier conducting culturally explorative work since 1993. The artists of Mammalian are committed to social acupuncture: playful, provocative, site-specific, and social-specific participatory performances, events, moments, situations, stage-based work, gallery-based participatory installations, videos, art objects,  theoretical texts, and models for youth engagement that are being replicated globally. The team has successfully carried our energies into the fields of urban planning, writing, directing, art history, education, photography, videography, filmmaking, acting, playwriting, and qualitative and quantitative research. Mammalian Diving Reflex’s work dismantles barriers between individuals, fostering a dialogue between audience members, between the audience and the material, and between the performers and the audience. Our work is innovative; we collaborate with diverse groups of youth, seniors, and adults, exploring and stretching the boundaries of what is considered theatre and performance. We are regularly invited to present our work in some of the most important contemporary performing arts festivals and venues in the world as well at the primary school just down the block, past the house where the dog is always barking.  

Darren O’Donnell is an urban cultural planner, novelist, essayist, playwright, filmmaker, performance director, and the artistic director and founder of Mammalian Diving Reflex. His books include Your Secrets Sleep with Me (2004); Social Acupuncture (2006), in which he argues for an aesthetic of civic engagement; and Haircuts by Children and Other Evidence for a New Social Contract (2018), in which he proposes the cultural sector as a pilot for a new social contract with children. His performance work includes Haircuts by Children, All the Sex I've Ever Had, Nightwalks with Teenagers, The Last Minutes Before Mars, Everything Has Disappeared, and Teentalitarianism.  

O’Donnell’s model for long-term collaboration with young people has been implemented in London, Bochum, Milan, and Berlin. He is interested in expanding and rethinking the role of cultural institutions in the world, particularly in terms of long-term engagement and collaborative friendships that spread into the wider community.

Institutional partners have included the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, the Humboldt Forum, the Tate Modern and Tate Britain, the West Kowloon Cultural District, the London International Festival of Theatre, the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, the Schauspielhaus Bochum, and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.

Heather O’Watch (She/Her) is a Nakoda and Nehiyaw woman from the Okanese First Nation in Canada. She has paternal ties to Carry The Kettle First Nation. Heather is enrolled in a Master’s Degree in Public Policy (MPP) at the University of Saskatchewan. She holds a BA in Indigenous Studies from the First Nations University of Canada. She works with Indigenous Peoples Rights International, a global Indigenous led organization that works to amplify justice for Indigenous peoples and communities facing criminalization and impunity. 

Heather has experience in research, policy and international affairs. Heather was selected as one of four young Canadian delegates to represent Canada in the Y7 Summit, the official youth delegation to the G7 summit in Japan 2023. Her contributions were submitted in the youth communique which was accepted by the 2023 G7 Presidency. She joined the Young Diplomats of Canada as EDI Lead to further support other young aspiring global leaders. She also is connected to the Global Youth Biodiversity Network- the official youth network of the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat. Heather recently founded Timpsina Society, a local Indigenous youth-led initiative which seeks to empower Indigenous youth in building capacity regarding policy and advocacy amongst the prairie region of Canada.

Megan Lewis is a queer, mixed Kanien’kehá:ka woman and member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, currently serving as Director of the Centre for Indigenous Policy and Research at Indigenous Youth Roots. Based in Ottawa, she leads national initiatives that center Indigenous youth voices in policy and research. 
Megan’s approach draws on lived experience as a vital part of advancing equity, self-determination, and community-led solutions. She is committed to making policy spaces more accessible and to uplifting youth leadership through advocacy, research, and relationship-building that help shape more equitable and responsive policy systems.

Jonathon Wilcke was generously supported by the Judith Anne LaRoque Scholarship Endowment.

Jonathon Wilcke is a saxophonist, composer, and community organizer whose music ranges through strict forms, jazz, free and structured improvisation, text-sound, and vocal accompaniment, in both solo and group situations. Wilcke combines a well-rounded musical vocabulary drawing from jazz, contemporary composition, and various lineages of free improvisation with a high level of proficiency in the outer ranges of their instrument’s possibilities. Based in Calgary/Mohkintsis, Wilcke has collaborated on many musical projects, including Eating Speed with Rob Oxoby (bass) and Eric Hamelin (drums), the Chris Dadge (drums) and Jonathon Wilcke duo, Circular Sparrow, Robots on Fire, ffffffft!, The Real Featuring the UnReal, Midnighties, and Mechanics Who Can Drive. He has shared the stage with players such as Joe Morris, Peggy Lee, Mats Gustafsson, Eugene Chadbourne, Jens Lindeman, John Butcher, Han Bennink, and Jack Wright, and is the co-producer of the long-running Bug Incision Presents series.

Paddy Walter was generously supported by the Marshall M. Williams Endowment.

My name is Patrick Walter (he/him), I am a 23 year old drummer from Melbourne/Naarm, Australia, currently finishing my Bachelor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium.  I have had the good fortune to study extensively with many of the country’s most accomplished drummers; Dylan Van Der Schyff, Felix Bloxsom, Danny Fisher and Dave Beck. I have performed with local luminaries such as Ben Robertson, Matt Hoyne, Joel Trigg, and most notably Sam Anning, Brett Williams, and Julien Wilson. Williams has been a mentor of mine, over the course of 2025 we worked closely together; gigging, rehearsing and communicating regularly. In 2025 I also performed with two artists in residence, Melissa Aldana, and then later, Danilo Perez. Both visits featured multiple rehearsals and culminated in live performances, the latter of which featured a sold out Jazzlab show on the opening night of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. The experience was extremely special and I am endlessly grateful for the mastery, passion, and kindness that Melissa and Danilo shared with us. The opportunity to perform such meaningful and intricate tunes with the composers who created them was a truly humbling experience and one that I will carry with me forever.

Mindaugas Stumbras was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Mindaugas Stumbras (b. 1996, Vilnius, Lithuania) is an internationally active guitarist, composer, and bandleader celebrated for his expressive musical voice that blends contemporary jazz with world‑music influences and narrative storytelling. Based in Vilnius, he is recognized for his rich improvisation, lyrical depth, and harmonic imagination.

Stumbras completed advanced studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, earning a bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar in 2019. Since then, he has performed extensively across Europe at prestigious jazz clubs and festivals, collaborating with a wide range of international musicians.

As a recording artist and bandleader, Stumbras has released several acclaimed albums, including Inspirations (2021), Among the Pines (2023), and the guitar duo project Strung Out (2025). His latest album, The Spinner of Yarns (2025), presents a sonic tapestry where each composition unfolds like a story, intertwining improvisation with delicate melodies, contemporary harmonies, and world‑music textures.

Through his performances, Stumbras explores both intimate acoustic settings and dynamic collective improvisation, continually expanding the expressive possibilities of the modern jazz guitar

Julia Stein was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

She is a violinist and improviser focused on developing a personal musical language through experimentation and collaboration. She holds Master’s degrees from AMUZ in Poznan and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she further developed her violin practice. It was during her studies in London that she discovered improvisation, which became central to her artistic work.

She is an active member of the European improvised music scene, including the Wroclaw Improvised Orchestra, where she explores real-time composition and collective creation. She has performed at international festivals such as JazzFest Berlin and the Jazz Festival in Saalfelden, and regularly collaborates with artists at the Jazztopad Festival, performing in the House Concerts series.

She co-creates improvised projects including the ambient duo Miki i Julka and the ensemble Kołysanki. She also developed the project Przeczucia, inspired by Jack Wright’s The Free Musics. Her work is rooted in attentive listening, openness, and collaboration.

Natalie Song was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Natalie Song is a pianist, improviser, and composer based in the Seattle area. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Washington, studying with Marc Seales, Ted Poor, Steph Richards, Steve Rodby, and Cuong Vu. She developed her voice performing in a variety of ensembles, both at and outside the school. Under the mentorship of Poor and Vu, Song strengthened her skills as a free improviser and composer. Her current work synthesizes jazz styles with more textural and collective approaches, with an emphasis on open improvisation.

Song performs as the keyboardist for Seattle rock artist Lucia Flores-Wiseman and is an active sideman in various other projects in the local jazz scene. Past collaborations include accompanying Bill Frisell, Luke Bergman, Todd Sickafoose, and Kelsey Mines. In addition to performing, Song works as an educator and recording engineer, capturing both live performances and studio sessions for ensembles ranging from orchestras to jazz quartets.