This program was initiated by Peter Knight in 2014 and its first iteration was in Cairns. In 2016 the Creative Music Intensive was nominated for the AMC Art Music Award for Excellence in Music Education. In the same year the AAO premiered Peter Knight's, "Diomira", which was also nominated for an AMC Art Music Award for Instrumental Work of the Year. The piece went on to win the 2016 Albert H. Maggs Composition Award. In 2017 Diomira was extended to a full length concert work with video by artist, Scott Morrison, and premiered as part of the Melbourne Festival. "Water Pushes Sand" merged Jazz and Sichuan folk music styles and featured Zheng Sheng Li, a Sichuan ‘face changing’ dancer along with four other musicians from Cheng Du in Sichuan, and five AAO musicians. Composer Erik Griswold and percussionist Vanessa Tomlinson (together known as "Clocked Out") spent 15 years researching Sichuan's music and culture before this work was created. The world premiere of "Water Pushes Sand" was at OzAsia Festival in 2015. A full house show at Arts Centre Melbourne as a part of Melbourne Festival 2015 followed. The CD, released in 2016 was nominated for ‘2016 Jazz Work of the Year’ at the APRA/AMC Art Music Awards and an "ARIA Award for Jazz Work of the Year", receiving positive reviews in the media. In 2017 "Water Pushes Sand" toured Australia including Darwin Festival.