Saturday Dec 9th 2pm-3.30pm

Hanson Dyer Hall level 3- Ian Potter Southbank Centre

Tickets Free HERE - Bookings essential

Vocalists in the Improvising World.

A panel of leading vocalists discuss their processes and approaches to practice, composition, career development, social media and the new digital world post covid across multiple genres and music industry sectors.

Acclaimed Australian improvising vocalists reveal the secrets of their processes and approaches to all things vocal. Bringing their unique voices into the conversation, Michelle Nicolle, Teri Roiger (NY), Gian Slater, Nina Ferro, Kate K-S, Nilusha Dassenaike, and Harriett Allcroft will discuss a broad range of approaches to all aspects of their careers in the music industry. The insights provided by these leading musicians and improvisers might surprise you!

Moderated by Australian pianist Andrea Keller, Head of Jazz and Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne and creator of the highly successful “Stories and Songs” You Tube series comprising of interviews with jazz and improvisation musicians from around the world .

This event will be live streamed - link here

Watch it again here

Nina Ferro and Shelley Scown are unable to appear as previously advertised due to illness.

Gian Slater is a vocalist and composer based in Melbourne, Australia with an approach that incorporates wordless singing and improvisation, songwriting; electronics and extended vocal techniques; new music and contemporary composition and collaborations with theatre and dance practitioners. She has released nine albums of original material, has featured on many recordings for acclaimed Australian and international artists, and created the innovative vocal ensemble, Invenio Singers, which she has led since 2010. Her recent 2022 album ‘Grey is Ground’ was awarded Jazz album of the year at the Australian Art Music Awards and she received a Green Room Award in composition for theatre production Song For a Weary Throat. She has been a multiple finalist in the prestigious Freedman Fellowship, Melbourne Music Prize and Bell Awards. She was the recipient of the MJFF Apra Composers Commission, Creative Australia Fellowship and the PBS Young Elder of Jazz. She is a long-time passionate Lecturer in Jazz Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

Michelle Nicolle has forged a reputation Nationally and Internationally as a formidable and creative jazz vocalist-musician. Her ability to get right to the heart of a song, whilst being a masterful improviser with the technique to match any instrumentalist has been recognised with a Bell Award (jazz vocal album of the year), Mo Award(s), National Jazz Award winner and 3-time A.R.I.A Finalist. She has performed with Kurt Elling and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and in 2023 was featured soloist with Wynton Marsalis’ “All Rise” with the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra and both the Melbourne andSydney Symphony Orchestras. “Michelle Nicolle was a standout, her resounding gospel cry of “I Say All Rise” piercing the soul.”- Australian Book Review Aug 28, 2023. Releasing 9 albums and constantly touring Australia and Internationally, Michelle is steeped in the tradition of interpreting and reimagining the American Songbook whilst also arranging. composing, and leading her ensemble - The Michelle Nicolle Quartet. An experienced educator, Michelle teaches at University of Melbourne, Monash University, and regularly tours Australia and USA as a clinician (Uni North Texas, University of Miami, CSU Northridge and CSU Long Beach).

TERI ROIGER “Teri has an intuitive laid back sense of time reminiscent of Abbey Lincoln and Betty Carter but with her own uniqueness.” JACK DEJOHNETTE (legendary jazz drummer & NEA Jazz Master). An American jazz musician vocalist, pianist, songwriter, educator, and producer, Teri lives in New York City and also spends time in New York’s Hudson Valley. She began playing piano at age 5, and played church organ throughout her teens. When she discovered jazz in her early 20s – and shortly after made her first demo with the legendary stride pianist Butch Thompson – her musical path was set. Throughout the years, her music has taken many exciting twists and turns. She has performed as a DUO with her husband, bassist John Menegon, throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and they have been featured artists at the San Miguel Jazz Festival (Mexico), Panama Jazz Festival (Panama), and Bolzano Jazz Festival (Italy), where they presented concerts and masterclasses. The depth of her experiences and love of jazz is apparent when she brings all their talents to live performances, the recording studio, and through her moving lyrics and compositions. Teri’s recordings have all met with critical acclaim, as have her live performances at festivals and top New York jazz spots (Birdland, Kitano, Dizzy’s, Mezzrow, Jazz Standard, Swing46).

Kate K-S is an Australian musician, recording artist, songwriter and producer. She has developed a unique and personal sound that draws on a wide range of influences including jazz, electronic, folk, pop and soul music. Kate has spent the last six years living in New York where she has been busy performing, songwriting and recording. During this time she has performed with artists including Cyndi Lauper, Robert Glasper, Derrick Hodge, Julia Michaels, Kesha, Macklemore, Ray Angry, the Resistence Revival Chorus, Philip Glass, Carly Simon and Ani Difranco.

Nilusha Dassenaike is a Sri Lankan Australian singer and composer, session and backing vocalist, and an intersectional feminist workshop facilitator. In 2017 Nilusha relocated to New York City and became the music coordinator and alternate musical director of the Resistance Revival Chorus which led to her performing on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Lincoln Centre for Tina Brown’s Women in the World symposium with special Guest Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey’s Book Tour, The Apollo theatre celebrating Harry Belafonte’s 93rd Birthday and the Women’s March on Washington and New York City. Nilusha also has a current residency with Carnegie Hall and established the first ever Rockefeller Centre Choir. She tours with Australian icon Tina Arena as her backing vocalist, and sings lead and backing vocals for television shows such as Dancing with the Stars, The Masked Singer and Australian Idol. Nilusha has an original electronic downtempo duo project with programmer and producer Colin Snape and will be releasing new music in early 2024.

Effervescent jazz singer Harriett Allcroft is well known for her dynamic, emotive and whimsical compositions, accessible to both stalwart jazz appreciators and newcomers to the genre. With a voice that lilts and glides through beautiful melodies and thoughtful lyrics, Harriett is known for her mesmerising yet light-hearted style. Harriett performs her original contemporary jazz with trademark playfulness and whimsy, and in 2020, was a finalist for the prestigious National Jazz Awards. In 2022, Harriett presented a suite of new music at the Melbourne Recital Centre. She is looking to record and release this music in 2023. Harriett has been a finalist for the Jazz Bell Awards ‘Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album’ for her debut album Archie, and has appeared at both the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (2019) and the Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival (2018).

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Free (bookings essential)

Saturday Dec 9th 2.00-3.30pm

Hanson Dyer Hall – Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

Ian Potter Southbank Centre

33-43 Sturt Street Southbank

Presented in collaboration with major partner The University of Melbourne