Artistic Directors Welcome

On behalf of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2024 Sydney Con Jazz Festival. For our sixth instalment we are thrilled to present an incredible array of styles, artists, ground-breaking ensembles and brand-new collaborations that include some of Australia (and the worlds) finest musicians.

It has been a challenging couple of years for our creative musicians, and our Conservatorium is committed to presenting this boutique festival, the only one of its kind in Australia, to continue to provide professional performance and music creation opportunities for industry leaders and emerging artists alike. With major festivals. Australia wide, no longer being presented, I am grateful for the support of the University and its philanthropists for the continued support of this event.

The Sydney Con Jazz Festival is a collaboration between Sydney Conservatorium’s Jazz unit, the Conservatorium Open Academy and the Sydney Improvised Music Association and this dynamic team has sought to create an event where the musicians and their art is the primary focus. Our concerts are uniquely acoustic in a world where amplification and volume is increasing and with 26 concerts (and almost 140 musicians!) the Festival literally has something for everybody.

From cutting edge new commissions and international debuts to the electric sounds of our café stage, this entire event is housed in a world class venue, held on one day and offers affordable ticket options for the entire community.

Come and join us for a one-day celebration of one of the world’s most vibrant and creative artforms, Jazz.

David Theak

Festival Artistic Director & Senior Lecturer Jazz Studies, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Festival Overview

The Sydney Con Jazz Festival includes 26+ concerts occurring in the 6 concert halls at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, on Sunday June 2, between 12pm & 9pm

The Festival has a broad range of concerts covering most jazz ensemble sizes and genres from Big Band to solo piano performing popular jazz classics to the new music of today, performed by established international and domestic artists as well as the artists of tomorrow and some brand-new collaborations

This year, for the first time, the festival will debut the ‘el Roco’ room which will be screening a selection of Australian Jazz documentaries. Additionally in 2024, we are co-presenting the 2nd annual Sydney Big Band Festival, featuring dozens of elite high school big bands in our 6th concert hall, the Joseph Post auditorium

Also free to pass holders, are performances in the Atrium (including the Con Jazz Staff Trio), and various elite student ensembles from the Sydney Con Jazz Studies Course.

Festival passes are back!!

Due to popular demand, the 2024 SCJF is once again offering festival passes to our jazz loving patrons.

Click on the ‘buy tickets’ button to find out more about the festival passes and single ticketed concerts.

All shows are general admission and some high demand shows can reach venue capacity…its advisable to queue early to guarantee entry to your preferred acts however if a venue is at capacity, there will always be an alternative, high-quality act elsewhere at the festival for you to check out.

In the case of premium ticketed events (ie Gala Concert & Elixir), if you have a gold pass or a single ticket you are guaranteed entry to these events.

The festival offers a huge variety of artists from newly commissioned & cutting edge works to good-time swing bands. The festival has an acoustic music philosophy avoiding amplification where possible and leaving the control of the sound to those who know best…the musicians!