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News July 2008 One version of the application form for the Manly Festival gave the wrong postcode, so there may be a delay in getting some of them in. Applications for student and community groups to perform at the Manly Jazz Festival closed on July 25. The selection panel meets in the next week, so successful applicants will be informed within the next fortnight. Please remember that the IAJE stage is only for educational groups: school bands, university bands, community groups and other educational institutions. It is not for professional groups of any kind or any age. If you are a young band looking for work and want to play the Manly Jazz Festival, you probably have to pay your dues first and make a name for yourselves. Professional groups need to contact the Festival directors, not us! Meanwhile, applications are now being taken for the Sydney Jazz Camp 2009. Jazz Camp is to be held January 19 - 23, 2009. Details and the application form are at the Jazz Workshop website. News June 2008 Applications are now being taken for the Sydney Jazz Camp 2009. Jazz Camp is to be held January 19 - 23, 2009. Details and the application form are at the Jazz Workshop website. Applications are also open for school, university and community groups to perform at the Manly International Jazz Festival. The dates for this year's festival are October 4 - 6. Groups from interstate and overseas are welcome to submit an audition CD. Details and the application form are on the NSW page of this website. The IAJE International website is no more, as the last funds for maintaining it were used up some time ago. To get a sense of what various (former) IAJE chapters are doing elsewhere have a look at the the IAJE Canada website and the South African Association for Jazz Education. News May 2008 We are now moving quickly toward the re-establishment of IAJE in Australia as a national organisation with a renewed local focus. Peter Foley distributed a survey to band directors at the recent Generations In Jazz event in Mt Gambier to guage what interest there is in a National Jazz Education Association, and what benefits local jazz educators would like to see facilitated by such an association. Peter will gather and collate the data. Anyone interested in this process of re-establishment should contact their local IAJE chapter. Congratulations to the NSW Arts Unit Jazz Orchestra, directed by Tim Crow, on winning first place in Division 1 in the National Stage Band Awards in Mt Gambier for 2008, the first time a NSW has won the event. Pianist Conrad Pashkutski won the James Morrison Scholarship, and Tasmanian singer Elly Hoyt won the James Morrison Vocal scholarship. News April 2008 It is with sadness that I report that the International office of the IAJE in the USA is currently filing for bankruptcy. The organisation has debts from which it cannot recover through either cost-cutting or reorganisation. To see the message from President Chuck Owen go to the IAJE International website. I have resigned as a member of the IAJE Board of Directors effective from the date of the filing for bankruptcy IAJE will continue its progam of activities in Australia unchanged, as we are independent of the International office. IAJE NSW and IAJE WA are incorporated associations in their own right and remain both financial and active. What we will lose are the Jazz Education Journal, the annual conference (which was held exclusively in North America), and the various outreach and talent development programs. Active members of the local committees in NSW and WA are considering how best to reorganise so as to best continue to represent the needs of Australian jazz educators and students. Other questions include what the name of our organisation will be in Australia, and how to deal with membership dues in the future. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me and the IAJE over the past few years, and to everyone who has worked to build the organisation in Australia. The vision and mission remain the same: to assure the growth of jazz and jazz education. Our local chapters are unchanged and continue as before. Our local Presidents Tim Simpson (WA) and Martin Hardy (NSW) will continue to provide leadership and coordination in our efforts. A final, even sadder note: For those who didn't hear about it Australian jazz lost a great champion in Alan Corbet who died in February this year. He is sorely missed and remembered fondly. This Website A priority for me is ensuring that this website is kept up to date, informative and useful. State committee members or IAJE members from around the Australasian region can email me at nsbjazz@hotmail.com with news suitable for inclusion on this site. I look forward to hearing from you!
Saul Richardson
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