Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

Converge Festival is upon us again! Converge is a run of three nights where Sydney’s next batch of young improvisers rub shoulders on stage with some of Australia’s most respected musicians. Made possible by Sydney University’s larger Verge Festival, Converge gives students groups from the Sydney Conservatorium jazz program the chance to collaborate and perform with a jazz artist of their choice.

Band 1 : (8:30-9:00) Joe Lisk – Trumpet (leader) Nish Manjunath - Tenor Saxophone Josh Spolc – Bass Alex Inman-Hislop - Drums Guest Artist: Greg Coffin - Piano

The concept is to present our own original music, since a number of the proposed band members are interested in composing for this quintet format. Greg Coffin is a well-respected Sydney pianist and composer. Working with Greg on this project would be a great opportunity to learn from his compositional skills, and also his direction of an ensemble - to view how he presents his compositions to the musicians, and uses the collaboration to form original music.

Band 2 : (9:30-10:00) Holly Conner – Drums (leader) Felix Lalanne – Guitar David Allen – Piano Mel Mony – Alto Saxophone Guest Artist: Lloyd Swanton - Bass

Lloyd Swanton is one of Australia's most diverse musicians, playing and composing with pivotal ensembles such as The Necks, The Catholics and previously The Bernie McGann Trio. In this Converge project we hope to explore the different aspects of Lloyd's experience through re-imaginings of our own compositions, re-arrangements of his compositions and spontaneous improvisations based on his approaches used in The Necks.

Band 3 : (10:30-11:00) Yutaro Okuda – Guitar (leader) Evan Harris – Saxophone Emma Stephenson – Piano David Groves – Bass Guest Artist: Andrew Gander - Drums

A primary goal of this Converge project is to seek professional guidance from a renowned bandleader through workshopping original compositions by members of the group. An aspect of particular interest is how reaching various rhythmic gears can be achieved in an ensemble context. We hope to achieve this through insight into the performance preparation of Andrew Gander, a world class Australian drummer, and having our own rehearsals and performance with him.

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website