JAMES and Judi Morrison are celebrating five years of Mount Gambier’s James Morrison Academy of Music in 2019.
Explaining they chose the “perfect community” to launch the world-renowned jazz academy, Mr Morrison said the city had been a great support to the music school.
“I congratulate the Mount Gambier community on its support of the academy,” Mr Morrison said.
“I will never forget in our first end of year concert, there were people coming and waving to the students.
“When I enquired whether they were family, the students would then tell me they were actually community members such as the butcher from down the road.”
Mr Morrison said Mount Gambier’s rural setting provided the ideal location to realise his academy vision through a partnership with the University of South Australia.
“When it came to setting up the academy I wanted it outside of a metropolitan city, it needed to be within a regional area and that is because of the experience I wanted for the teachers and the students,” Mr Morrison said.
“Those who have an academy in Melbourne, most of their students come from Melbourne and that means they are going to go home after class each day.
“Here in Mount Gambier the students share houses around the city, they go home and they are living with musicians and the momentum they get for the course then becomes much more intense.”
Mr Morrison also highlighted Mount Gambier’s long-standing jazz history from the annual Generations in Jazz concert, which Mr Morrison has been a part of since 1987.
“I came and said we need a building to start the school here and we ended up in the old town hall which was the perfect location for the students,” Mr Morrison said.
Now five years on, Mr Morrison said the academy was “working perfectly”.
“We are getting that kind of feeling there is a great culture here in which people can study and we are starting to see the results of that through our postgraduate students who are moving on to do great things.”
The jazz club has also been a highlight for Mr Morrison.
“The fact students leave the academy for the day and then go out and practice that culture after hours has been great and has really shown through their music,” he said.
“The benefit that it has had for the city too is great and I am pleased we have been able to give something like that to the local community.”
Now with 63 students enrolled within the academy, Mr Morrison said program delivery for first, second, third and post-graduate students was in full swing.
“To put it in perspective, the jazz department in the same course at jazz universities across the world has around 60 students so we are doing very well with our numbers.”
This year the academy plans on more touring as well as taking students to International Jazz Day celebrations in Melbourne, which Mr Morrison will host in April.
“We have lots of plans and we are always looking at what is next and what more we can do,” he said.
