Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

An award-winning classical pianist before jazz intervened "in the form of a Tommy Flanagan solo", pianist/composer Helen Sung went on to graduate from the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and win the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition.

Helen was also a semifinalist in the 1999 Monk Piano Competition and selected by Wynton Marsalis as one of his Who's Got Next: Jazz Musicians to Watch. She is now captivating listeners everywhere with an artistic approach that seamlessly integrates the jazz and classical worlds.

Helen has worked with jazz luminaries, including the late Clark Terry, Wayne Shorter, Terri Lyne Carrington and Ron Carter, and released five critically-acclaimed albums. Helenistique (2006) was praised by JazzTimes as "one of the year’s most exciting listens", Sungbird After Albeniz (2007)—a jazz-classical project—was hailed as "a real winner" while Anthem For A New Day (2014), which features the Grammy-winning Paquito D’Rivera and MacArthur Fellow Regina Carter, was described as "exceptionally tight, smart and intense". Her latest album Sung With Words (2018) is a collaboration with celebrated poet Dana Gioia.

Helen Sung will perform with the Australian 10 piece powerhouse, that is the;

Sydney Women's Jazz Collective

These talented members represent some of Australia’s best up and coming players and improvisers including multiple winners of the prestigious Jann Rutherford Memorial award. Featuring a 6 piece horn section and 4 piece rhythm section, this unique and electrifying collective merge the best of the big band with the flexibility, creativity and genre bending exploration you expect from any modern ensemble.

In its short 2 year life span, the group has been fortunate enough to work with incredible local and international artists including Dr Sandy Evans, Ingrid and Christine Jensen (USA/Canada) and Silke Eberhardt (Ger.), performing at the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival and Sydney Con Jazz Festival.

The SWJC plays primarily Australian Works, including specially commissioned pieces by Andrea Keller (Vic) and local composing talents Jenna Cave, Glenn Doig and Ellen Kirkwood. This season will see an expansion of this repertoire including works by Rafael Karlen (the 2018 composer in residence at the prestigious Peggy Glanville-Hicks House in Sydney), Paul Cutlan, Freya Garbet and more!

Members are: Hannah James (Double Bass), Ali Foster (Drums), Sorcha Alburquerque (guitar), Freyja Garbett (piano), Ellen Kirkwood (Trumpet), Louise Horwood (trumpet), Alex Silver (Trombone) Laura Corney (Tenor), Loretta Palmeiro (Alto/Sop/Clarinet), Kali Gillan (Baritone)

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by phone on (02) 9036 6292

Featured artists

• Jazz/improvisation by Helen Sung
• Jazz/improvisation by Sydney Women’s Jazz Collective