The Freedman Music Fellowships are among the most prestigious offered to Australian musicians. They are awarded annually to a classical music instrumentalist and a jazz musician.
Sydney trumpeter, composer and innovator Tom Avgenicos was awarded the 2022 Freedman Jazz Fellowship in an exciting final playoff at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday 3 September. The sold-out crowd enjoyed the events return to the Studio, after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.
The three finalists Flora Carbo, Holly Conner and Tom Avgenicos delivered distinctively different, highly impressive and creative performances.
Dr Richard Letts from the Music Trust commented:
“Each Freedman finalist in very different ways produced interesting, complex music. All performed on traditional instruments but also included modern contributions from computer-generated music with live triggers. It was intriguing that each of the finalists chose to include other art forms – visual arts, dance, film, animation in their imaginative project proposals.”
Katie Yap, the Melbourne-based, Brisbane-born violist has been named winner of the much prized Music Trust’s $21,000 2022 Freedman Classical Fellowship. Yap succeeded in the finals against harpist Emily Granger and violist Henry Justo, with an outstanding performance before a live audience and esteemed judges in the Sydney Opera House on Saturday, July 30.Judith Wright’s poems and bird-song soared through the Utzon Room in Katie Yap’s winning performance.
Katie Yap’s love of music was felt deeply throughout her emotive finals performance. Her ability to grip the audience, and say so much in the silences of each composition was truly breathtaking. Her voice soared in synergy with the viola, naturally amplified by the stunning acoustics of the Utzon Room.
ABOUT THE FREEDMAN MUSIC FELLOWSHIPS
James McLean, Freedman Jazz Fellow for 2016, photo by Karen Steains
The Freedman Fellowships are not for students or emerging artists. The maximum age of candidates is 35 years for jazz and 30 years for classical and they are for artists who are already very well established and at the top of the profession. The Fellowships are intended to assist them in taking their next important career steps.
Artists cannot self-nominate. Distinguished musicians from each Australian state and territory are invited to nominate candidates and the maximum number of candidates for either Fellowship is 17. To be nominated is already an honour.
Matthew Kneale, Winner of the 2017 Freedman Classical Fellowship, photo by Frank Crews
Candidates apply with a sound recording and a description of a career-advancing project they would undertake with the award funds. Finalists are chosen, interviewed and auditioned by panels of three judges, again drawn from the upper ranks of the profession. The jazz audition takes the form of a concert, Freedman Jazz, held at the Studio of the Sydney Opera house.
The Fellowships are funded by the Freedman Foundation and were conceived by Laurence Freedman and Richard Letts. The first Fellowships were awarded in 2001 and until 2013 have been managed by the Music Council of Australia. In 2014, management passed to The Music Trust and administration to SIMA (Sydney Improvised Music Association).
Previous Freedman Fellowship News
- Announcement: WINNER OF THE 2017 Freedman Jazz Fellowship
- Announcement: WINNER of the 2017 Freedman Classical Fellowships
- Announcement: Finalists for the 2017 Freedman Jazz Fellowship
- Announcement: Nominees for the 2017 Freedman Jazz Fellowships
- ANNOUNCEMENT: Finalists for the 2017 Freedman Classical Fellowships
- Nominees for the 2017 Freedman Classical Fellowship
- ANNOUNCEMENT: Winner of the 2016 Freedman Classical Fellowship
- Finalists for the Classical Fellowship 2016
- Finalists of the 2016 Freedman Jazz Fellowship
- Review of Freedman Jazz 2016, by John Clare
- ANNOUNCEMENT: Winner of the 2015 Freedman Classical Fellowship
- Finalists for the Classical Fellowship 2015
- Winner of the 2015 Freedman Jazz Fellowship
- Review of Freedman Jazz 2015, by John Clare
- Nominees for the Classical Fellowship 2015
- Nominees for the Jazz Fellowship 2015
- Announcement of the Freedman Classical Fellow for 2014
- Announcement of the Freedman Jazz Fellow for 2014
- Freedman Classical Fellowship Finalists 2014
- Freedman Jazz Fellowship Finalists 2014
- Nominees for the Classical Fellowship 2014
- Nominees for the Jazz Fellowship 2014
