The Music Trust announced today the three finalists for the prestigious Freedman Jazz Fellowship, Australia’s premier award for excellence in jazz. This year’s contenders for the annual scholarship are drummer James McLean and pianists Joe O’Conner and Luke Sweeting.

The three finalists will have the opportunity to compete for a $20,000 cash prize in a live “play-off” at the Sydney Opera House.

The judges for the winner are distinguished jazz musician/composers Stu Hunter, Laurence Pike, and Brendan Clarke. They selected the three finalists from a group of 16 candidates. The finalists were all judged in part on a proposed career enhancing project which the prize money is meant to be used for.

ABC Jazz, media partner of Freedman Jazz Fellowships, will be covering the event and broadcasting the concert.  Not only will the winner receive the cash prize, but they also will receive three days’ recording time in the ABC Jazz Studios. With the addition of this new prize, the Freedman Jazz Fellowship is now Australia’s most lucrative Jazz award. Tal Cohen, the winner of the 2015 Fellowship, is returning to Sydney in June to claim his award, recording a new project in the ABC Jazz Studios in Sydney.

The Jazz Fellowship is funded by the Freedman Foundation, a philanthropic organization chaired by Laurence Freedman that assists and supports young Australians in many areas including medical and scientific programs and the arts.

Who: Freedman Jazz Fellowship finalists James McLean, Joe O’Conner, and Luke Sweeting

What: final “play-off” for the Freedman Fellowship prizes

When: Monday 1 of August, 7:30pm

Where: The Studio, Sydney Opera House

For more information or to book tickets to the finals, click HERE.

For information about James McLean, click HERE.

For information about Joe O’Conner, click HERE.

For information about Luke Sweeting, click HERE.