- Published:
- Friday, 27 March 2015
The life and legacy of Australian jazz musician Brian Brown OAM has been honoured with the launch of a newly upgraded recording studio at the Victorian College of the Arts in Southbank.
Minister for Creative Industries, Martin Foley, visited the campus today to launch the cutting-edge studio as it hosted its first performance, a rendition of Brian Brown’s 1984 composition Wildflowers.
Mr Brown, who died in 2013, was a musician and educator who established the jazz and improvisation course at the VCA in 1980.
The facility replaces a 35-year-old Sound Research Studio, which was regarded as one of the foremost state-of-the-art recording studios in Australia at the time.
As well as providing career development opportunities for countless students for more than three decades, the former studio hosted commercial recording sessions, including a recording by Gough Whitlam who used the facility to recreate his famous “Well may we say” speech for Frank Hardy’s play The Adman.
The upgrade, supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, has expanded the live recording space and incorporated 21st century technologies . These include HD video monitoring, which allows students to record and communicate via video to other recording studios around the world.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Creative Industries, Martin Foley
“For well over 40 years, the VCA has nurtured and grown our creative sector - attracting, training and retaining outstanding talent for Victoria.”
“World-class training needs world-class facilities, and this studio will help to foster the next generation of musical talent and create projects that will be shared with the wider community.”
“This new facility will enhance teaching, research and community engagement opportunities on campus, and ensure that Victoria’s reputation as the music heartland of Australia grows in the years to come.”