Sydney Con International Jazz Festival
International stars and Australian jazz heavyweights descend upon Sydney as The University of Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music hosts its third annual International Jazz Festival. Tickets are now on sale.
Formed in 2017 with Australian jazz at its core, Artistic Director and Head of the Sydney Conservatorium Jazz Studies Program, David Theak, a tireless advocate for jazz in Australia, has again made education a central component to this year’s program. He will be programming the 2019 festival along the lines of the very successful 2017 and 2018 festivals. The 2019 program is inclusive, diverse and unique, featuring over 100 musicians in 20 master-classes and concerts.
International artists include US icons, Bill Frisell Trio, (Bill is considered “the most innovative and influential jazz guitarist of the past 25 years” Wall Street Journal), along with Billy Childs Quartet, the five time GRAMMY winning piano virtuoso and prolific composer, plus award-winning Italian pianist Vittorio Mezza performing with the Mark Ginbsurg Ensemble. The festival features four big bands and twelve small ensembles.
This year, the SCIJF, is presented in association with the Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA). International artists will collaborate with Australian musicians, rarely heard national ensembles of excellence, cutting-edge Sydney artists and dynamic artists of tomorrow mentored by our top jazz musicians. Students will work with some of Australia’s best-known jazz musicians and composers, training in improvisation, ensemble playing and repertoire development. Classes in jazz music business skills will prepare graduates for the non-musical aspects of their career.
With the exception of vocal support, Theak has taken an “acoustic performance philosophy” by selecting artists who perform without amplification so audiences can enjoy the music as it was designed it to be heard.
