Recipients Announced for Australian Composer Commissioning Fund 

ABC Classic and ABC Jazz names 15 recipients for the inaugural fund worth $90,000 to support new Australian music from diverse and emerging voices

From the 150 applications, the chosen composers now have the opportunity for their works to be recorded for broadcast and digital commercial release. They will each receive up to $6,000 supporting the writing of their piece, an ABC studio session, and airplay for the completed recording. 

The grantees for ABC Classic are Brent Keogh, Eric Avery, Titjikala Womens’ Choir, Christine Pan, Camille Barry and Thomas Green, Heather Percy, Elizabeth Younan, Emily Sheppard, Henry Liang, and Meta Cohen. 

For ABC Jazz, the grantees are Omid Shayan, Ilaria Crociani, Mark Ferguson, Minnie Hill, and Rafael Karlen. 

Of the recipients, more than half are female. Two composers identify as Indigenous Australians, three as LGBTQI+, and five as culturally and linguistically diverse.

The music by these composers will explore themes like Indigenous culture, the Australian bush, and cross-cultural collaborations featuring classical and jazz instruments alongside the Arabic oud, Japanese shō, Chinese pipa, banjo, harmonium, electrical cristal, and an Indigenous choir.

This program follows the highly successful "Fresh Start Fund" held by the ABC in 2020. It involved five million in funds, introducing 25 new Australian works in a series of commissions across classical and jazz, helping protect local creativity and content against the ongoing impacts of the pandemic. 

"It was so pleasing to see an extraordinary range of creative responses from all over the country," said Joe Gelonesi, acting content manager for ABC Classic and ABC Jazz.

"The diversity of talent and startling selection of music themes to be brought to audiences through the $90,000 composer commissioning fund bodes well for the future of quality classical and jazz music making and highlights the ABC’s vital role in the discovery and development of new Australian music."