The ten-day Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival (SIWJF) which began on Friday 30th, will feature more than 30 leading female musicians across Sydney venues and clubs, celebrating music from Australia and the world.
The festival was thrilled to announce the 2020 Artist-in-Residence as Dr. Sandy Evans OAM earlier this year. Widely regarded as a leading force in jazz, improvised and inter-cultural music in Australia and internationally, Sandy’s creativity and artistry will be on display throughout the week beginning with a special digital screening via FB Live of her 2019 premiere of Ahimsa: Mediations on Gandhi on Tuesday November 3 at 8pm.
On Saturday November 7 at 5:30pm, we will stream the launch of Sandy’s new album “Postcards from the Anthropocene” with collaborators Hamish Stuart (drums) and Adam Hulbert (eurotrack modular synthesiser and theremin) from Halfback Books on Sydney’s northern beaches. The album was recorded during last year’s bushfire crisis and is offered as a protest against environmental destruction and climate change.
Following this at 6pm and 9pm on Saturday 7 November, ten-piece ensemble Pharos will perform the music of Sandy Evans live at Mary’s Underground (the former site of the Basement). Paying homage to Sandy, a trail-blazer for women in the 80s & 90s, and co-founder of the pioneering Young Women’s Jazz Workshops, these performances will feature Sandy’s award-winning compositions which recently earnt her the 2020 Jazz Performance of the Year at the APRA AMCOS Art Music Award and will include two newly commissioned works for the 2020 festival: Lighthouse Keepers and Restful Peace.
To round off our Artist-In-Residence program, Sandy will close the festival alongside long-time musical collaborators, koto-master Satsuki Odamura and bassist Steve Elphick on Sunday November 8 at 3pm and 5:30pm. In two intimate concerts titled “Magic Music” at Venue 505, the trio will capture the enchantment of improvised music, showcasing the extraordinary six-foot, 13-stringed Japanese koto and demonstrating Evans’ gift for interpretive interplay.