Big Jazz Day Out

Commissioned and performed by the Monash Art Ensemble, Roger Dean’s Niche Turbulence, featuring the formidable Sandy Evans, is a bold, cerebral plunge into the chaos of ecological and viral cycles. Think mangrove decay meets pandemic data. Drawing sonic lines between estuarine systems and COVID-19, the work fuses composition and improvisation into a living, breathing ecology. Ensemble players aren’t just performers, they’re agents of entropy, resilience, and rebirth. In this visceral, shape-shifting work, the Monash Art Ensemble channels the turbulence of a collapsing biosphere, capturing both urgency and uncanny beauty in real time.

Niche Turbulence is a world premiere at the inaugural Big Jazz Day Out.

This performance is being recorded. We kindly ask all audience members to keep noise to a minimum during the performance . Applause is warmly encouraged at the end of each movement!

ROGER DEAN

Roger Dean, composer/improviser, directs the creative ensemble austraLYSIS. With Luers and Smith, he received the international Robert Coover Prize for Electronic Literature (2018). He has performed diversely as bassist, pianist and computer artist: from the Academy of Ancient Music and the Australian Chamber Orchestra to the London Sinfonietta; in jazz and improvisation from Graham Collier Music to duets with Bailey, Parker, Evans and Slater, and working with Harry Beckett, Ted Curson, Henry Lowther, Palle Mikkelborg, Tomas Stanko, Manfred Schoof, Ken Wheeler (to focus on trumpeters). He has made 70 commercial recordings (e.g. Dualling (Earshift 085, 2024)); and numerous radio and multimedia pieces. He researches music cognition/computation (MARCS Institute, Western Sydney University). He is widely cited for the book Practice-led Research, Research-led Practice in the Arts (EdinburghUP), and for five books on improvisation.

SANDY EVANS

Sandy Evans OAM is an award winning Australian saxophonist, composer, researcher, and educator known for her work in jazz, improvisation, and new music. She has led and collaborated with many significant ensembles, and performed with notable luminaries such as Paul Grabowsky, Monash Art Ensemble, Silke Eberhard, Ingrid Jensen, Judy Bailey, Andrew Robson, the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO), Indra Lesmana, Hamed Sadeghi, Freyja Garbett, Chris Cody, Chloe Kim, Brenda Gifford, Chris Fileds, Ben Walsh’s Orkestra of the Underground, SNAP, Han Bennink and Terri Lyne Carrington. Her projects span Australia, Europe, Asia, and India. Sandy is an advocate for gender diversity in jazz. She inaugurated the Jazz Improvisation Course for Young Women run annually by the Sydney Improvised Music Association, and is founding director of the Jann Rutherford Memorial Award, an initiative to support young female jazz musicians.

MONASH ART ENSEMBLE

The Monash Art Ensemble (MAE), based at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, is a hybridistic ensemble blending composition, improvisation, and new technologies across the art music world. Founded in 2012 with support from key philanthropic partners, MAE commissions and performs new Australian music, connecting students with leading artists and mentors. The group collaborates with leading international and national figures, features regularly at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and has released several acclaimed albums. With a focus on innovation, education and artistic research, MAE nurtures emerging talent and expands audiences beyond Melbourne’s CBD, earning numerous awards and national recognition for its ground-breaking work.

THE MUSICIANS

Roger Dean - composer, ensemble director, electronics, and piano
Nicole Canham - clarinet and bass clarinet
Sandy Evans - soprano saxophone
Sullivan Tung - alto saxophone*
Rob Burke - tenor saxophone & alto clarinet
Tristan Western - tenor saxophone*
Lynton Sun - french horn*
Paul Williamson - Bb trumpet
Ben Anderson - bass trombone
Zela Papageorgiou - pitched percussion
Dylan van der Schyff - drum kit
Sam Spicer - electronic wind instrument (EWI)*
Su Min Lee -  harp*
Rory O'Shea - piano*
Liesl Parnell - violin*
Layla Maitri - viola*
Peggy Lee - cello
Chezz Cinquegrana - electric bass*

*indicates students of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance

Monash Art Ensemble Committee

Prof. Paul Grabowsky
Assoc. Prof. Robert Burke - Artistic & Managing Director
Dr. Michael J. Kellett - Ensemble Manager & Producer
Dr. Paul Williamson
Dr. Aura Go
Chelsea Wilson

Event & Recording Production Team

Dr. Michael J. Kellett - Event Manager
Daniel Parr - FoH Engineer
Karissa Taylor - Lighting Engineer & Front of House 
Daniel Tan - Recording Engineer 
Alex Aidt - Recording Engineer Assistant *
Su Min Lee - Recording Engineer Assistant*

Special Thanks to...

The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance
Monash University Performing Arts Centres 
Salzer Foundation 
Minsmere Foundation 
Chelsea Wilson
Karl Willebrant
Anusha Yellapragada

CONTACT

For all media enquires, please contact mae@monash.edu