ABC Classic and Jazz launch new $90,000 commissioning fund

The ABC’s Classic and Jazz networks have launched a $90,000 fund to support new music works from emerging and diverse Australian composers.

Focusing on works from under-represented groups, the fund will commission 15 new works and subsequently record them for broadcast and digital release. Selected composers will receive up to $6,000 to cover writing the work and recording musicians.

Applications are open now and close May 21, with recordings of the selected works scheduled to occur between late 2021 and the first half of 2022. Full details can be found through the ABC’s website.

The new fund follows on from the ABC’s $5 million Fresh Start Fund, which commissioned 25 new Australian works last year. Out of the 486 applications, more than half of the selected composers and performers were women, and just under a third were Indigenous Australians.

ABC Classic and Jazz content manager, Toby Chadd – who has recently announced his departure – noted the impact of the Fresh Start fund and his hopes for the new initiative.

“It was the biggest music commissioning project in the history of the ABC and it was more than a rescue package – out of it came a range of music that reflects Australia today. And we’ve heard from our audience about how those new works have delighted, inspired and challenged them,” ABC Classic and Jazz content manager Toby Chadd said in a statement.

“The projects were so successful that we’ve decided to run a new composer commissioning fund in 2021, inviting musicians and composers to apply for funds to get a new work commissioned, recorded and broadcast by the ABC. The focus will again be on championing under-represented voices, continuing ABC Classic and ABC Jazz’s long tradition of nurturing Australian music-making and bringing the very best artists to our audiences, here at home and around the world.”