Jazz It Up! BMW Supports Australian Musicians 10 May 2004. BMW Group Australia is teaming up with Australian music legend James Morrison and Generations in Jazz to promote the development of youth music in Australia. BMW 735Li BMW 735Li

More than 1400 musicians aged under-19 compete at the Generations in Jazz weekend in Mount Gambier, South Australia each year for honours and substantial cash rewards. The event judges the best national stage band, best vocalist and best soloists from across Australia.

To further expand on the opportunities offered via Generations in Jazz, BMW is to support the long-standing James Morrison Scholarships as well as host two special public occasions where the winners of Generations in Jazz and the James Morrison BMW Scholarship will perform alongside James and his band in front of a large audience at a major entertainment venue.

“The BMW Youth Music Blast - Showcasing the Generations in Jazz & James Morrison Scholarship Award Winners” will play the renowned Conservatorium of Music in Sydney on 16 August 2004, with a repeat performance the following night in Melbourne at the BMW Edge amphitheatre at Federation Square.

In addition to playing with jazz legend James Morrison in front of an invited audience in excess of 400 guests, a live recording of the BMW Youth Music Blast will be produced as an enduring memento of the event.

Previous winners of Generations in Jazz have begun successful careers as professional musicians, playing in Australia and around the world. A number of past winners currently play in James Morrison’s own band.

The BMW philosophy of pursuing excellence and innovation is the driving force behind these novel contemporary music concerts. The BMW Youth Music Blast concerts offer the best young musicians and vocalists a new, higher level of performance than they could have ever experienced previously, a sensational reward for their success at the Generations in Jazz finals.

BMW is supporting Generations in Jazz and Australian youth music as part of its active strategy of cultural engagement in the Arts.

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BMW Group Australia is a supporter of the Australian Ballet, in addition to being naming rights sponsor of BMW Edge at Federation Square, the most advanced multipurpose live entertainment venue in Australia.

BMW Group Australia aims to establish the BMW Youth Music Blast as a significant annual event in the music calendar of both Sydney and Melbourne.

According to James Morrison: “The BMW Youth Music Blast takes youth music to the next level, into a new dimension.”

“The BMW events are a vital and exciting recognition of the great and developing talent we have in Australian youth music.

“The BMW events will deliver a substantial extra incentive for bands to do well at the Generations in Jazz finals this year, helping to raise the standard across the board,” he says.

“Over the past 22 years Generations in Jazz has nurtured a vast number of young musicians, giving them the ability to improve through competition, but now the BMW Youth Music Blast gives them a new, larger, professional stage on which to play,” James Morrison says.

“The BMW Youth Music Blast could be a vital stepping-stone to a career as a professional musician,” says John Kananghinis, General Manager, Marketing & Communications, BMW Group Australia.

“Generations in Jazz attracts the most musically-talented high school students and nurtures them. Now BMW offers a unique showcase for their talents and possibly their first public performance.

“The BMW Youth Music Blast is an innovative, energetic and dynamic way for us to promote excellence in youth music and we are sure the competition to secure a place on-stage in Sydney and Melbourne will be intense,” Mr Kananghinis says.

Generations in Jazz Awards 2004

• The City of Mount Gambier is funding Scholarship for the best Vocalist is worth $5,000.
• The James Morrison BMW Scholarship is worth in excess of $10,000 for a solo performer aged 15 – 19.
• The Mount Gambier National Stage Band Awards – open to all secondary school Stage Bands, is worth $24,000 in prize money in 2004.

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