Sector: Arts and Culture

Art form or genre: Music, Community arts/cultural development

Country location: Japan

Grantee: Monash Art Ensemble

Project Description

The Monash Art Ensemble is a unique collaboration between students and staff from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music at Monash University and the Australian Art Orchestra. The ensemble acts to support the development of excellence in young Australian musicians, to foster a culture of innovation amongst established Australian musicians and to encourage community engagement with Australian musicians and music.

Designed to build on existing networks, the Monash Art Ensemble will showcase Australian contemporary jazz at international festivals in Japan in 2018 – the Tokyo Jazz Festival and the Iwate Jazz Festival – and in Australia at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. The project will establish an innovative cross-cultural collaboration between prominent Australian jazz musicians, including from the Monash Art Ensemble and Japanese artists.

The collaborative ensemble led by Paul Grabowsky (AO) as Artistic Director will create original contemporary compositions inspired by traditional Japanese music and Indigenous music, and then perform together. The ensemble will also conduct music workshops at schools and with locals in Iwate prefecture, Tohoku, Japan who were affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. By doing so, the project will promote the quality of Australian music education to Japanese students and demonstrate Australia's ongoing support of the people of the Tohoku region.

Social media accounts: https://www.facebook.com/MonashUniversitySchoolofMusic/

Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program grant offer: $45,000 plus $4,500 GST over three years

Total project value: $200,000