QUT Music student, Orlan Grimes Marin (centre) launches his debut original project in a dynamic performance at the Hard Rock Cafe, Chennai, India. With (l-r) Harriet Wensley, Jacob Mills, Brian Butcher, Beau Griffiths, and Arnav Maitreya (KM Student, Chennai). Photo: Holly Brown.
Hard Rock Cafe Chennai. The Australian Consulate. A Netflix studio tour. Songwriting in the home of Bollywood. Thirteen QUT students just lived a creative education that no classroom could contain.
There’s a version of a creative arts degree that happens in a lecture theatre. And then there’s what thirteen QUT students just experienced: a four-week immersion in India that took them from Bollywood music studios in Mumbai to a headline set at the Hard Rock Cafe in Chennai.
Funded by the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan and led by Associate Professor Kristina Kelman from QUT’s School of Creative Arts, the 2026 India Immersion Project was the most expansive edition of the programme in its decade-long history — the first year the New Colombo Plan extended study tour duration to a full four weeks.
In the Home of Bollywood
Students spent the first half of the tour based at the KM Music Conservatory in Mumbai — the institution founded by AR Rahman, the Grammy Award-winning composer behind Slumdog Millionaire. Days were spent in Hindi language lessons, music production sessions, and Konnakol rhythm workshops. Nights were spent absorbing a city that runs entirely on music.
Then came the road. Chennai. Bangalore. Goa. Live performances at major venues, a new partnership with the Goa Jazz Academy bringing together three institutions for collaborative showcases, and a private tour of Netflix India that few music students anywhere in the world could claim.
“We don’t just send students overseas — we send our best emerging artists on an international tour, where they collaborate with talented Indian musicians, write and record original music, and perform at major live music venues.”
Dr Kristina Kelman, Associate Professor, QUT School of Creative Arts
A Standing Ovation from the Consul-General
The highlight that no one could have scripted: the students performed as featured acts at the Australian Consulate-General’s Australia Day celebrations in Chennai. Australian Consul-General Silai Zaki personally wrote to commend the students — singling out their efforts to learn Hindi well enough to perform the Hindi National Anthem.
That’s the kind of moment a creative education makes possible. Not a grade. Not a certificate. A performance, in a foreign language, in front of a diplomatic audience, ten thousand kilometres from home.
What It Means for Your Creative Career
The students who travelled — spanning music, drama, and communications — returned with original recorded music, international performance credits, and cross-cultural collaborations that will define their creative careers. Dr Kelman has been running this partnership for ten years. The students who go don’t just study abroad. They tour.
If you’re thinking about what a Bachelor of Creative Arts at QUT could look like for you — this is it.
Explore our Bachelor of Creative Arts
Image: Final showcase with QUT students and staff of the Goa Jazz Academy.