US jazz star coming to perform and mentor
Celebrated American jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn is returning to South Australia to mentor and perform with graduating musicians from the Elder Conservatorium of Music.
The New York-based singer and producer will be in Adelaide in August to conduct masterclasses and perform in two concerts.
Horn, who featured at Mt Gambier’s Generations in Jazz in 2017, will be the guest artist for Helpmann Academy’s annual A Night of Jazz on August 25, which includes performances and the presentation of the jazz awards to the Conservatorium’s top jazz students, with prizes worth more than $32,500 this year.
The three-time Grammy nominee will also conduct a masterclass for selected Elder Consveratorium students and graduates and perform a Sunday afternoon concert (August 20) at UKARIA Cultural Centre in Mount Barker, accompanied by pianist Victor Gould.
The tour is supported by Helpmann Academy and the Elder Conservatorium.
Helpmann Academy CEO Jane MacFarlane believes Horn’s visit will be a career-defining opportunity for emerging musicians.
“We’re so excited to see how these opportunities impact and shape the burgeoning practices of the next generation of jazz musicians in our state,” she says.
Horn’s list of accolades includes winning top prizes at the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition. All three of her albums were nominated for Grammys.
Tickets will be on sale from June 30 at helpmannacademy.com.au
New screenings for award-winning documentary
Locally produced documentary Watandar: My Countryman, which premiered at last year’s Adelaide Film Festival, will screen in Adelaide, Mt Barker and Port Augusta in July.
The subject of the film, former UN photographer and refugee Muzafar Ali, will present the screenings with South Australian filmmaker Jolyon Hoff.
Ali, a Hazari artist from Afghanistan who grew up in Pakistan as a refugee, was accepted under Australia’s humanitarian program in 2015 after two years in a refugee camp in Indonesia. Hoff, from local production company Light Sound Art Film, befriended Ali while he was living in Indonesia.
The film had its origins when Ali was asked to photograph the descendants of Afghan cameleers at their 160-year anniversary celebrations in Marree, in South Australia’s far north. The project became a personal journey when he recognised cultural connections between these descendants and his own life. Penelope Debelle wrote about the development of the project for InReview in 2021.
The new screenings will include a Q&A session.
Watandar: My Countryman: forthcoming screenings
Tuesday, July 4, 6.30pm – Piccadilly Cinema
Wednesday, July 5, 6.30pm – Wallis Cinema, Mitcham
Thursday, July 6, 6.30pm – Wallis Cinema, Mount Barker
Friday, July 7, 6.30pm – Augusta Cinema, Port Augusta
Arts industry concerns over SA Budget
Last week’s State Budget has caused considerable disquiet in the arts sector, with the Arts Industry Council of SA the latest body to raise concerns.
AICSA chair Jessica Alice said the Budget put Labor’s record on the arts at risk.
She raised specific concerns about “efficiency dividends” being applied to arts bodies and “unfair indexation policies”.
She said that while the Budget’s top-up on the indexation rate for non-profits was welcome, it was not being applied to the arts sector.
Jessica Alice
“The arts and cultural sector is a part of the broader social sector, working for the public good and community access to culture,” she said. “Wages rises, cost-of-living pressures, superannuation rises and inflation are all costs that affect the arts and cultural sector as much as it does the rest of the social sector.
“Indexation ensures that the value of multi-year operational grants is somewhat maintained. It maintains the value of programs delivered and it encourages wage rises for people working in the arts sector. We urge the SA Government to rectify this issue as a matter of urgency, ensuring that a reasonable NFP indexation rate of 5.1 per cent is applied consistently across the whole non-profit, for-purpose sector in South Australia.”
Alice said a 1.7 per cent efficiency dividend would result in significant cuts – potentially in the millions – to cultural programs and employment.
These issues, along with the unresolved future of the Tarrkarri Centre for First Nations Culture, led to a “lack of clarity” about the government’s vision for arts and culture.
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“While we appreciate the pressures on the state’s budget, increased investment in arts and culture – a small part of the pie already – continues to be essential to our recovery from the pandemic, which impacted the arts so profoundly,” Alice said.
“Just as is the case with sports and recreation, when the state funds arts and culture it is supporting people’s participation in civil society, wellbeing, and connection.”
Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.
Get in touch by emailing us at editorial@solsticemedia.com.au
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