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ABC Classic and ABC Jazz launch commissioning fund to support new and diverse Australian voices

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ABC Classic and ABC Jazz have launched a $90,000 fund to support the creation of new music works from emerging and diverse Australian voices.

Applications open today for the composer commissioning fund, which will develop creative talent from under-represented groups by prioritising opportunities for women, Indigenous Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse artists, gender diverse artists, LGBTQI+ artists and differently abled artists.

Following on from the success of last year’s ABC $5 million Fresh Start Fund, ABC Classic and ABC Jazz will commission 15 new works or collections of works to be recorded for broadcast and digital commercial release, bringing the talents of diverse Australian musicians to audiences across the country.

Toby Chadd, ABC Classic and ABC Jazz Content Manager, said: “In 2020, the ABC’s Fresh Start Fund gave opportunities to hundreds of classical and jazz composers and musicians at a time when their industry was in dire straits.

“It was the biggest music commissioning project in the history of the ABC and it was more than a rescue package – out of it came a range of music that reflects Australia today. And we’ve heard from our audience about how those new works have delighted, inspired and challenged them.

“The projects were so successful that we’ve decided to run a new composer commissioning fund in 2021, inviting musicians and composers to apply for funds to get a new work commissioned, recorded and broadcast by the ABC. The focus will again be on championing under-represented voices, continuing ABC Classic and ABC Jazz’s long tradition of nurturing Australian music-making and bringing the very best artists to our audiences, here at home and around the world.”

Last year’s Fresh Start Fund saw ABC Classic and ABC Jazz bring 25 new Australian works to audiences, in a series of commissions that helped safeguard local creativity and content against the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 55% of the selected composers and 62.5% of the performers were female, while almost 30% of the successful composers identified as Indigenous Australians. Click here to listen to some of the commissioned works.

Successful Fresh Start Fund applicants included Australian composer Emma Jayakumar and her Bell Birds suite – an expression of profound love for the Australian bush and its unique, audacious animals.

“It’s funny, this piece has really I think solidified for me that I am… I’m a composer,” she said. “Before I kind of had a foot in either camp, I think – I’m a singer but I also write. And now I’m – absolutely, I’m a composer. And it’s really wonderful for me to have had that real affirmation.”

Yuwaalaraay writer, musician, composer and educator Nardi Simpson said the process of composing and recording her Fresh Start Fund commissioned work The Binary was “a really wonderful journey for me”.

“I’m really easy going. So, if someone says ‘Think about doing this’, I say ‘Yeah, I’ll have a go’. And I negotiate things in the making and often I can tailor things to what they need to be. This has been an experience of where I’ve pushed a little bit on what I want things to be.”

Recipient of the ABC Jazz Fresh Start Fund, Angela Davis, said the award was a “dream come true.”

“During a time where all of my gigs were cancelled for the foreseeable future, this support gave me the motivation I needed to keep writing and working on my craft with the knowledge that I had a recording date in the future. And what a time to write! I feel extremely lucky to have the support of the ABC – it has absolutely changed the trajectory of my career in what was a difficult time to be an artist.”

Applications for the new $90,000 ABC Classic and ABC Jazz commissioning fund are open from 9 April to 21 May, with recordings of the selected works scheduled to occur in late 2021 and the first half of 2022.

Each successful commission receives a total fee of up to $6000 to cover writing a new work and recording musicians, plus a studio session at the ABC, airplay for the completed recording on ABC Classic or ABC Jazz and commercial digital release of the work via ABC Music.

To apply or for more information, go to the ABC Classic & ABC Jazz Composer Commissioning Fund site.

 

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For more information:
John Woodward, ABC Communications
woodward.john@abc.net.au

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