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NOMINATION: Performance of the Year - Jazz / Improvised Music

For the performance of a single Australian work, showcasing the performer(s)’ success in improvisatory creation or collaboration. This may entail entirely improvised work or significant improvisatory input such as solo passages. A work is defined as a single complete musical composition, or expression. This includes music with movements or sub-works (i.e. song cycles), installations, and real-time compositions (improvised music).

If you believe your performance to be nominated in the wrong category or the details of your nomination to be incorrect, please contact the AMC via email at awards@australianmusiccentre.com.au before proceeding with the nomination.

Art Music Award guidelines →

Nominee

Merinda Dias-Jayasinha, Grace Ferguson, Lily Tait, Abby Sundborn, Genevieve Fry

Nominee email

merinda.dj@gmail.com

Title of the work

Live at Make It Up Club

Composer(s) of the work

Merinda Dias-Jayasinha, Grace Ferguson, Lily Tait, Abby Sundborn, Genevieve Fry

Performance Date

23/6/2024

Venue

Live at Make It Up Club. Digital release (JPEG022) via .jpeg Artefacts.

Nominator Statement

In 2023, the iconic and enduring Make It Up Club curated groups of leading improvising musicians to perform as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations across the month of July. The result - Live at Make It Up Club, released in 2024 by local Naarm label, .jpeg Artefacts.

Fleeting by nature, but blessed to be suspended in time and printed to 0s and 1s, this release represents a once-off live and improvised set by five of Naarms finest innovating contemporary classical minds:
Merinda Dias-Jayasinha - Voice
Grace Ferguson - Piano, Portable Reed Organ
Lily Tait - Violin
Abby Sundborn - Cello
Genevieve Fry - Harp

This performance might never need to end. Strings, and vocal chords, and effects processors float, whirr, and coalesce: sine waves dancing in the attic of Bar Open. The ideas Merinda, Grace, Lily, Abby, and Genevieve find are always beautiful but never laboured. Their restraint is palpable, the five of them alternating in duets and trios, choosing their unison moments with care and intention. A refinement of influences, the pieces have echoes of Kara-Lis Coverdale or Vanessa Amara by-way-of Oren Ambarchi, with an attention to structure that makes its improvised nature a magical feat.

This collaboration elegantly expands and contracts, and is characterised by deep listening and generosity by performers, who extend this invitation to audiences alike. These five musicians are unselfish improvisers and demonstrate a quiet strength, care, and delicacy when playing together. Live at Make It Up Club is an ideal candidate for the Art Music Award for Performance of the Year: Jazz / Improvised Music.

Listen: https://jpegartefacts.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-make-it-up-club

Nominee email confirmation

Eligibility checklist

Eligibility checklist (required)

The performance took place publicly in the year prior to that of the Award. Public broadcast of a studio or concert performance in the same year is eligible as a public performance (this includes radio broadcasts, live streams, podcasts, or other digital distribution of a live recording)

The performed work was composed by an Australian citizen or by a composer who has permanent residence in Australia.

The performance is only submitted in a single Performance of the Year category.

I believe that my nomination in this category is eligible in accordance with the Art Music Award guidelines.

I permit APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre, and any person APRA AMCOS or the Australian Music Centre authorises, to perform the entry in and as part of the Art Music Awards ceremony if deemed appropriate, and to record it for those purposes and for the purposes of communication to the public or promotional use. I agree to allow APRA AMCOS’ and the Australian Music Centre's use of audio and video in relation to the nomination package for the Art Music Awards for promotional purposes.

Support Materials

Audio/video recording

I will upload a file of a recording

I will provide a link to where the recording can be publicly accessed

Audio/video recording upload

Drag and drop files here or click to upload

Maximum file size: 8MB

Enter the URL where your recording can be accessed

The link must remain valid and publicly accessible until August

(Optional) Enter any password required to access the recording

I confirm that the date of performance in this recording is the date nominated

Is the nominated performance over 10 mins in duration?

Yes

For performances over 10 minutes, a sample recording or showreel of less than 10 minutes duration is also required.

I will upload a separate sample/showreel recording

I will provide a link to a separate sample/showreel recording

I will provide a timecode which identifies where the sample can be found in the complete recording provided above

Where in the submitted score does this sample correspond to?

Sample/showreel recording

Drag and drop files here or click to upload

Maximum file size: 8MB

Sample/showreel - Enter the URL where your recording can be accessed

The link must remain valid and publicly accessible until August

Sample/showreel - (Optional) Enter any password required to access the recording

Timecode which identifies where the sample can be found.

Music score, performance instructions or lead sheets (in PDF file format)

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For works created without a score, lead sheet, or performance instructions, please submit a description of how the work is realised, structured, and/or constructed. Maximum file size: 8MB

Optional: Program note if not included in score

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Maximum file size: 8MB

Artist Statement (up to 1800 characters)

Please provide a statement regarding your nomination (up to 1800 characters). This statement can clarify or re-articulate anything listed in the nomination statement.

Indigenous Content

Indigenous and Non-Indigenous nominees using Indigenous content (such as language, title, narratives, or themes) from outside of their own cultural groups must supply supporting documentation that they have consulted with the appropriate communities and have obtained their permissions to use their cultural content and intellectual property.

Does your nominated work/activity involve the use of Indigenous content (such as language, titles, narratives or themes)?

Yes

Are you using Indigenous content outside of your own cultural heritage?

Yes

Please describe the material being used and your connection to it

Upload evidence of consultation with the appropriate communities and permissions to use their cultural content and intellectul property

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Maximum file size: 8MB

Required press materials

The following materials may be used for the Art Music Awards event and promotional purposes. These materials are not used for assessment by the judging panels.

High quality photo of the nominee

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Maximum file size: 8MB

Photo Credit

Video/Audio Sample

Timecode which identifies your prefered 30 second sample can be found in the complete recording provided in the support materials

Social media links (optional)

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Twitter

Merinda Dias-Jayasinha, Grace Ferguson, Lily Tait, Abby Sundborn, Genevieve Fry - Live at Make It Up Club

NOMINATION: Performance of the Year - Jazz / Improvised Music

NOMINATION: Performance of the Year - Jazz / Improvised Music

Nominee

Merinda Dias-Jayasinha, Grace Ferguson, Lily Tait, Abby Sundborn, Genevieve Fry

Nominee email

merinda.dj@gmail.com

Title of the work

Live at Make It Up Club

Composer(s) of the work

Merinda Dias-Jayasinha, Grace Ferguson, Lily Tait, Abby Sundborn, Genevieve Fry

Performance Date

23/6/2024

Venue

Live at Make It Up Club. Digital release (JPEG022) via .jpeg Artefacts.

Nominator Statement

Eligibility checklist

Support Materials

Indigenous Content

Required press materials

Social media links (optional)