Faa News Letter
INDEX. (click on your topic of choice)
- AUSfolk2010 - news from the Convention CEO
- Young Folk Award finalists announced
- FAA AGM to be held at The National Festival
- President comments on AUSfolk 2010
- National Coordinators Role finishes
- FAA Committee meets in Melbourne
Young Folk Award
FAA Young Folk Award Showcase at National Festival
The Young Folk Award Showcase will be staged in the Flute and Fiddle Concert venue from 10am to 12.30pm on Sunday (Easter Sunday) April 4, Easter Sunday. Nine performers will perform for an audience and a panel of judges including David Hyams (composer, producer and performer from WA also a long standing member of the Board of the WA Music Industry Association), and Marcus Holden ( fiddle player extraordinaire from Fiddlers Festival and innumerable other line ups) The MCs for the concert will be current FAA President and performer in Cloudstreet, John Thompson, and FAA Board Member and Director of the National Celtic Festival in Portarlington, VIC, Una McAlinden. The performers listed below will each perform a bracket according to the timetable. The Judges will be guided to look for the best performer or performers with the potential to make an impact in their field or style. The Judges will also be looking to award free studio time (to make a demo CD) at Andy Busuttil’s Blue Mountain Sound to the performer who in their opinion would most greatly benefit from the Award. Tom Richardson who originally qualified for the concert is unavailable due to other touring commitments.
1000am Siobhan Owen - SA
1015am George Jackson - QLD
1030am Jenny Mckechnie and Hilary Glaisher - VIC
1045am Sam Shepherd - QLD
1000am Acoustic Elements (Brendan Wright and Scott Jolley) - VIC
1115am Pria Schwall-Kearney - VIC
1130am Hannah Foley - TAS
1145am Sarah McGuire - SA
1200pm Maggie and Elsie Rigby - VIC
NB -Performers, MCs and Judges are advised to double check the local time on Sunday morning as daylight saving is scheduled to end the previous night. top
FAA AGM at National Festival
The Folk Alliance Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Friday April 2 2010, at the National Folk festival in Canberra, Building 73 at 5pm. Nominations for election to the Committee or Board of FAA are available here
FAA Secretary, Roger Joseph has advised the Agenda will include, confirmation of minutes of the previous AGM, President’s Report, Treasurer’s Report, receive and consider the statement of accounts, election of the Committee and the appointment of an auditor.
For further details contact Roger at 03-061050585 0419 558421 or by email top
News on AUSfolk from Bill Hauritz
The 2010 Folk Alliance Australia National Convention – AUSfolk will be held from September 2nd - 4th at Woodfordia (the Woodford Folk Festival site) Queensland.
Planning is well underway, with the 2010 event aiming to capitalize on the new relationship with the QFF by focusing on Folk and community event management, as well as an exploration of the broad avenues of Australian Folk culture.
With input from key members of the folk community, AUSfolk is aiming to create an event full of good times, great informative sessions with some of Australia’s top festival directors and business people, and well as loads of activities to occupy delegates and their partners over the weekend. The full program will be released by the end of April. If you’ve got ideas, they’re welcome - please forward them to bill@ausfolk.com.au
AUSfolk will bring together festival organizers, arts professionals, venue operators, performers and folk enthusiasts from around Australia to share the successes and develop the strategies that have worked to build the Folk movement over the past 30 years. There’ll also be great concerts, comedy, storytelling, talks and campfires to ensure that AUSfolk becomes a key date on the calendars of cultural activists from all over the country.
We hope that AUSfolk 2010 provides an injection of enthusiasm, goodwill and camaraderie into our community - a recognition of our common goals and a renaissance of the Australian Folk movement. Tickets will costs around $300, and with accommodation and meal options available onsite, the weekend promises to be a great value alternative to city-based conferences. Potential attendees should apply to RADF and local councils for funding to attend now.
AUSfolk - the unconventional convention – we’re looking forward to it.
Bill Hauritz , AUSfolk Convenor top
FAA President comments on upcoming convention:
"Ausfolk 2010 is shaping up to be a wonderful and important weekend for us all. The Queensland Folk Federation and their CEO Bill Hauritz have a fabulous record of event management and the FAA are delighted to take advantage of this opportunity to take our conference to a new level. Bill's energy and passion for the folk movement in Australia are well-known and we see him as the perfect convenor for our first Ausfolk conference at Woodfordia (the Woodford Folk Festival site). We're all looking forward to a great conference. We hope to see a new recognition of the importance of Australian folk music and culture develop out of the FAA's Ausfolk conferences in the coming years." top
FAA National Co-ordinators contract finishes
The National Co-ordinator’s position. which has been funded for twelve months with the assistance of a grant form the Music Board is set end on March 22. Felix Meagher, who took the role on in April last year said, “I wish to thank the people I have worked with during this time, both volunteers and paid professionals for their time and effort. Thanks also to the many venue organizers and performers who sent me info about their gigs. There have been many highlights, but one of them has been the evolution of the FAA Conference into the Ausfolk Convention. I urge all performers, organizers and folk music lovers to support this event and make it into something we can all be very excited about and proud of.” Felix also wishes to thank Jim MacQuarrie, Christine Wheeler, Bill Hauritz, Jamie McKew, Warren Fahey, Christina Mimmochi, John McAuslan, Marcus Holden, Kate Maclurcan and current FAA Board Members for assisting him over this time and says; “I think that the FAA has a big future and a very important long term role to play in the musical life of our nation.”
The National Co-ordinator’s position with the FAA has been interrupted because application for funding was unsuccessful in 2009, but the FAA will be re-applying for funding and hoping to create the position again later this year. top
FAA Board members meet in Melbourne - from FAA President, John Thompson
“This is an exciting time for Australian music and for the FAA. The FAA Committee which has been in place since November includes musicians, organisers and folkies from around Australia and have spent the past few months since our appointment coming to grips with some of the challenges which face us as organisation and a movement. On examining our financial situation, we reached the difficult conclusion that our current co-ordinator's position is unsustainable without ongoing funding. Our thanks go to Felix for his immeasurable contributions, hard work and enthusiasm. We will continue to pursue opportunities for funding support to develop our organisation's ability to represent the acoustic music industry in Australia. In the meantime, we are meeting in Melbourne next week to re-examine our strategic direction. Given the disparate geography of the Committee, we're planning to take advantage of the this opportunity to meet face-to-face to engage in some vigorous discussion on our future plans. We're also looking forward to the upcoming National Folk Festival in Canberra, our AGM and the chance to reconnect with the grassroots of the Australian folk community. We look forward to seeing as many members as can make it along to the AGM in Canberra.” top
