Scott McConnachie gets the first the Moreland City Band Improvisation and New Music Award

 

 

The Moreland City Band is proud to announce the launch of a new $5000 annual award for local musicians, particularly improvising musicians.

[From the Media Release]

The award has been made possible through a generous donation from Moreland business, the Brunswick Green, to the Moreland City Band. The Brunswick Green is a strong supporter of live music of many kinds while the Moreland City Band is a community based music organization.

The award is called the Moreland City Band Improvisation and New Music Award. It is awarded for recording projects for improvising musicians who may otherwise not fit under the radar of the Australia Council or under the many existing awards.

The inaugural recipient of the award is the talented saxophonist Scott McConnachie. It will enable him to record a solo album and trio album for release later this year.

The decision to present the award to McConnachie was made by a small joint committee of Brunswick Green and Moreland City Band management that included improvising musicians, drummer Ronnie Ferella, violinist Erkki Veltheim and trumpeter Scott Tinkler.

The award is not a competition and the winner is selected from musicians performing in the community music field.

“This is a community award from the community to the community, Mr Tinkler said.

Scott McConnachie is regarded as one of Australias most exciting improvising saxophonists. Last year he performed at the Melaka Arts and Performance festival in Malaysia. “His identifiably personal sound combines elements of the Australian jazz and improvised music sensibilities and western art music traditions with a consistently high level of performances intensity, its write-up of him said.

In 2005, McConnachie along with his then group OIL Logic was the recipient of the Young Artist in Residence Program award at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts. This was followed in 2008 by funding from Youth Arts Queensland for the Young Artist Mentoring Program.

Since then, he has toured Japan with free jazz drummer Shoji Hano, had residencies with the Australian Art Orchestra and performed with leading Australian improvisers such as the late David Tolley and violinist John Rodgers. McConnachie organised the community performance series and annual festival Audiopollen and leads his own group Roba.

For further information go to https://www.facebook.com/MCBphoenixproject/ or contact Moreland City Band president Howard Norsetter on 041258 5314.