01 Jun 2016
With a boost from an Edwin Carr Foundation Scholarship, Wellington jazz bandleader and collaborator Jake Baxendale is about to head to Sydney and New York to mine the knowledge of world experts on writing and arranging for jazz ensembles.
Baxendale leads modern jazz group The Jac and is a member of several other Wellington-based ensembles. He plans to spend six weeks undertaking composition lessons and intensive writing with several highly respected tutors including New York Grammy nominee Darcy James Argue, Brooklyn-based Canadian jazz icon Jon Irabagon and Australian saxophonist, composer and bandleader, David Theak.
Creative New Zealand recently awarded five scholarships for overseas study by New Zealand musicians, totalling $47,000. The funds are all supported by special bequests.
The Edwin Carr Foundation was established in 2004 with interest from the estate of the late Edwin Carr. It enables young composers to further their studies overseas. In 2016, three composers, including Jake Baxendale, will be supported by the Edwin Carr Foundation Scholarship. Tony Carr, brother of Edwin Carr provides ongoing support as a Foundation trustee.
Composer David Grahame Taylor will receive support towards his final year of a Masters of Music in Composition at San Francisco Conservatory. Taylor began his studies at the University of Auckland before moving to Singapore to study composition at the acclaimed Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. At 26, he has already had work commissioned, performed and recorded internationally and in New Zealand and in 2013 his orchestral work won the Orchestra Choice Award at the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Young Composer Awards.
Composer Warwick Blair will receive an Edwin Carr Foundation Scholarship towards flight costs and international networking opportunities to support a residency at Kingston University in the United Kingdom. Once described in the New Zealand Listener as the “enfant terrible of New Zealand Music,” he has had an extraordinary career in New Zealand and overseas, encompassing orchestral, electronic and pop composition. His 2006 album Accordian was critically acclaimed.
A New Zealand/Aotearoa Music Scholarship has been awarded to Anna Whitaker towards a Masters degree majoring in jazz voice at Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, USA. Whitaker is a seasoned entertainer. She has a Bachelor of Music with a major in jazz piano performance, opened for Hollie Smith at the Queenstown Winter Festival Jazz Night, joined The Dukes on their tour with Midnight Youth and is the lead singer of Satellite – who perform at Christchurch's annual Easter camp to 4000+ teenagers.
The New Zealand/Aotearoa Scholarship, established in 2011, is funded through a bequest from the estate of the late Mr Brent Lewis with the assistance of Creative New Zealand, and administered through the Public Trust. It enables young musicians to undertake study or gain further musical experience at a tertiary institution in New Zealand or overseas.
The Jack McGill Music Scholarship has been awarded to pianist Lorelle McNaughton to undertake a Masters of Spanish Piano Music degree at the Marshall Academy in Barcelona, Spain.
McNaughton received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Auckland. She then moved to Sydney to continue her studies and gained First Class Honours from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where she specialised in the study of Spanish piano works. She is a member of the eight-hand piano quartet Estrella whose debut album Tui reached No.1 in the Radio New Zealand Classical charts on its release in 2013.
She has received many awards during her studies in both Australia and New Zealand and recently undertook further study in Spain and France with some of the greatest living interpreters of Spanish music. While in Spain, McNaughton was awarded the prize for Best Performance of Spanish Music at the International Barcelona Piano Academy.
The Jack McGill Music Scholarship was established in 1985 with interest from a bequest by Jack Wynnegate McGill. It is for advanced studies or investigations into music in an international setting and is administered through the Public Trust on behalf of the Jack Wynnegate McGill Estate with the assistance of Creative New Zealand.
Media enquiries to:
Sarah Pomeroy, Senior Communications Adviser
Mob: 027 677 8070 | DDI: 04 498 0725
sarah.pomeroy@creativenz.govt.nz|
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