Grant Award View - GA201810

The Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) will build on its long-standing relationship with the Tokyo Jazz Festival to deliver Australian Jazz in Japan, a new initiative that supports the presentation of Australian music and culture in Japan. The initiative will occur in two parts; the first will take place in Melbourne in October 2021 at MIJF Congress, a new major national industry summit and artist showcase for jazz and improvised music; and the second will take place at the Tokyo Jazz Festival in August 2022. As part of MIJF Congress, we will showcase six contemporary Australian artists/ensembles to over 40 national and international delegates, including the Tokyo Jazz Festival who will attend via digital streaming. These artists/ensembles will reflect the cultural and stylistic diversity of the genre and the Australian community. The Tokyo Jazz Festival programming team will then select one of the participating artists/ensembles to present at the 2022 Tokyo Jazz Festival, Japan’s largest platform for jazz music. The Australian Jazz in Japan initiative will facilitate the only presentation of an Australian artist at the 2022 Tokyo Jazz Festival, playing a critical role in the developing trade partnership between Australia and Japan’s cultural industries.