A NEW face behind the scenes of Generations in Jazz will push for major event status for the festival ahead of next year’s event, which will coincide with International Jazz Day in Sydney.
Belinda Shannon has been appointed as chief executive officer of Generations in Jazz and hopes to secure State Government funding to “broaden the scope” of the festival.
Ms Shannon, who lives in Melbourne, will bring a wealth of experience to the role given her career has spanned a number of industries and organisations.
“I have worked in operations and logistics roles, primarily around production and in the fashion industry,” Ms Shannon told The Border Watch.
“More recently I have worked in universities and the not-for-profit sector around strategic planning and building.
“I like jazz music so when this opportunity came up I thought ‘oh absolutely.'”
Ms Shannon said she will aim to streamline the work behind the scenes of Generations in Jazz and make the festival “future ready”.
“I attended this year’s festival and it was wonderful,” she said.
“GIJ is run by an extraordinary bunch of volunteers and from the outside looking in it runs like a well oiled machine.
“We are lucky to have so many willing volunteers – some of them don’t love jazz but they love that community spirit and feel it is their civic duty to be out there.
“I will be defining roles and providing clarity around reporting structures and organising the back end.
“I need to streamline the process, put contingency plans in place and make sure everyone is across that.”
Ms Shannon said a key focus was having GIJ listed as a major event.
“I will be speaking to leaders in the South Australian Government to secure some funding and have the festival listed as a major event,” she said.
“Part of that is setting a strategic plan and we need to determine exactly what the economic impact is to the broader community.
“It is a truly unique event and there is the opportunity to open it up – we could make it a week long event or invite other parts of the community to become involved.”
Ms Shannon will travel between Mount Gambier and Melbourne during the year and live in the Blue Lake city for six weeks in the lead-up to the festival.
She said next year’s GIJ festival would benefit from exposure via Sydney’s International Jazz Day.
“We are looking at ways to draw from that and shine a spotlight on Mount Gambier and attract artists here,” Ms Shannon said.
“It’s not often world-class jazz artists get to play in a paddock.”
