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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-03-25 Daily Xml
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James Morrison Academy of Music

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:14): In February this year, the Premier travelled to Mount Gambier to be present at a special event, the opening of the James Morrison Academy of Music, which is affiliated with the University of South Australia. In its first year, the academy has already attracted 50 students from all over Australia who have auditioned and won the right to be the class of 2015 and will be the beneficiaries of the result of something that started many years ago: in James's case, a lifetime of work as a musician and educator, and for Mount Gambier it is their work in creating the atmosphere for the event that has become Generations in Jazz, which is after all the reason James has chosen to make Mount Gambier his base and family home.

I have been lucky enough to attend Generations in Jazz for around 16 years through my introduction by Modbury High School, a Florey public high school that has a fine tradition in travelling to the Mount to expose the students to the best there is in jazz, because of the special inspiring performances that have always been a highlight of the weekend, as well as the competition that allows student musicians to practise with an aim rather than just for practice sake and to meet peers from all over the state, and more so in later years from all over the nation.

Mr Reg Chapman is the man who I owe the debt of gratitude to for encouraging me to accompany the school on that first visit. His work, along with that of his assistant, Ms Shirley Robinson, inspired a tradition in the school that continues to this day. After Reg, Mr John Duncan took the school into the next phase with the help of Ms Joan Baker. Now, Ms Rosie Carr holds the baton that leads the stage band into the future, with Ms Baker still acting in her role.

These fine educators inspire their students with the total support of the governing council and school principals, Mr Robert Hill in the first two years, followed by Ms Jay Strudwick. Jay and I used to travel down together, as she had taught my children at The Heights School, and our friendship continued until her death. It is now my pleasure to support the students with current principal, Mr Martin Rumsby.

Modbury High has an extensive involvement with musical activities, with a concert band, stage band and ensemble groups in brass, string and classical guitar. Performances are given at parent meetings and school assemblies, none better than the one we had recently for the 50th anniversary of the school's opening. They also perform for other schools and senior citizen venues. They also appear in the Yamaha school bands festival. But it is Generations in Jazz that is the focus of the year's activity, and that is because of the atmosphere that has always been there, something that I sincerely hope is not lost as the event moves into a new phase.

From the earliest days of my recollection, the day-night events took place in what was then the 'Barn Palais', I think it was called, a straw ceilinged venue that seemed to hold hundreds of people. It is a far cry from the now much bigger event. This year, between 1 and 3 May, up to 3,700 young Australian musicians from nearly 100 schools will gather for competition and performances by international artists in a 5,000-seat big-top style pavilion, which transforms a paddock into an exciting venue for the weekend.

Important as this transition is in taking Generations in Jazz into the future, it is still the community support that makes the event. I can remember being welcomed by Karyn Roberts, the principal organiser and an organiser par excellence, every year. I know she and the Generations in Jazz board addressed almost every conceivable detail before each event and then the many that arose as it was underway. They fed and accommodated all the adjudicators, guest performers, participants and participant supporters, and made sure the competition venues—and there were several—were all well appointed and operational, with the myriad of technical equipment needed to make the performances sound great.

This hardworking group looked after the army of volunteers who made the weekend such a success and credit to the can-do attitude of the South-East. It is those volunteers who still will make the event what it is. I look forward to many more visits to Generations in Jazz at Mount Gambier and wish the event and the James Morrison Academy of Music every success into the future. The James Morrison Academy is located in the Old Town Hall complex on Commercial Street and it offers a full-time one-year diploma course and a two-year associate degree accredited by the University of South Australia, with plans to offer a full year three-year Bachelor of Music degree next year.

Enrolments are projected to grow to 140 by 2017, and inquiries have been received from musicians in the US, UK, South Africa, Switzerland and Germany. It is a great way for our South Australian musicians to be able to have world-class tuition and to be exposed to the sorts of performers who will be able to help them make their careers overseas flourish. I commend everyone involved with Generations in Jazz and the James Morrison Academy of Music and hope that some members will actually go down to Mount Gambier this year. I am sure some of their local schools are involved. They will not regret it; even if they are not jazz aficionados, by the time they come back they certainly will be.

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