Melbourne International Jazz Festival
The Foundation supports the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival has showcased a wealth of international and local musical talent annually for over 20 years and is undisputedly Australia’s premiere jazz event. Following the shut-down of live music performance in Melbourne in March 2020 due to the pandemic, the Foundation conceived and supported These Digital Times. This comprised a series of performances by some of the best in Australian and international jazz and contemporary music– predominantly artists originally programmed to appear at the festival – which were live streamed direct living rooms all over the globe in high definition from ALV Studios in Melbourne. These programs were a resounding success, with high international viewing numbers.
In 2021, the Foundation sponsored the inaugural MIJF Congress, which is the centrepiece of the MIJF’s enhanced artist and sector development program. In 2021 and 2022, the program included a series of career development panels, talks, workshops, master classes and networking events which addressed current needs and issues facing the Australian jazz sector. This culminated with a series Artist Showcases reflecting the broad stylistic spectrum of Australian jazz and improvised music. Industry delegates from arts and cultural organisations attended these showcases, facilitating cross-sector collaboration between jazz and other artforms. Jazz Congress has directly resulted in invitations for artists to perform at the Tokyo Jazz Festival, Canadian Jazz Festivals, Wellington Jazz Festival, Darwin Festival, Sydney Festival and Perth International Jazz Festival, increasing the footprint of Australian jazz on an international scale. Additionally, all sessions were professionally recorded and live streamed, adding to artists’ asset inventories and supporting the legacy of their work beyond the festival.
In 2023, the MIJF refined the Jazz Congress model in order to better support the global footprint of Australian jazz. This involved partnering with other international jazz festivals to feature a selection of multiple Australian artists, all from the Jazz Congress series. In the last year alone, MIJF presented congress artists at the London, Wellington and Perth jazz festivals as well as the SXSW conference in the USA, all to resounding acclaim.