South Australian Premier Steven Marshall has launched Generation in Jazz’s new strategic plan, earmarking an exciting new era for the iconic Mount Gambier music event.
Premier Marshall was joined by volunteers, sponsors, and event patrons on Saturday to celebrate the updated plan, praising the contribution GIJ had made to the state over the past 30 years.
He said the hard-working volunteers, supported by globally recognised jazz musician James Morrison, had created an event which was the “envy of the world”, stating he could not wait for its return in 2022.
“GIJ delivers on so many levels; it delivers in terms of music and jazz in particular, it delivers in terms of young people’s development and I think if they have ever needed it they are going to need it going forward, especially young people interstate who have not been at school, who have not been interacting with people for the past 18 months – they are definitely going to need it,” he said.
“From an economic perspective as well, this is a major contributor to this region and of course people come in for GIJ and in many ways become ambassadors for the South East of South Australia.
“They may not come back immediately but they will come back in time, and this is something which is great.”
The strategic plan was developed following a number of community consultation sessions engaging with key stakeholders including event participants, local musicians, volunteers, local government, parliamentarians, tourism and business leaders throughout the year.
GIJ chairman Peter Roberts said the feedback had been invaluable in developing goals and strategies to futureproof the event as it emerged from its two-year COVID hiatus.
It includes a vision of linking with international schools and students, development of a tertiary division, greater first nation engagement and opportunities to develop a digital and virtual participation capability.
“The pandemic may have stopped our event over the past two years but it has provided a great opportunity for our board and stakeholders to form a new strategic direction, looking at delivery with a future-focused lens, building plans to amplify the event and the many benefits it brings to our communities,” Mr Roberts said.
“Ideally, our board would like to see Mount Gambier and the broader Limestone Coast region renowned as a centre for excellence in jazz education, recognised more broadly for delivering a world class experience for students and schools.
“We are focused on seeing the Limestone Coast community embrace and strengthen the benefits of GIJ – it should deliver year-round paybacks to our community.
“This event needs to be sustainable, delivering a program that has a generation cycle with students returning to participate as world class musicians and music educators.”
The launch highlighted the addition of a new online schools’ portal to assist improved communication, acting as a one-stop-shop of information for school music directors, students and families to assist planning.
“We are excited to launch this new communication tool which will ensure our participants have a central resource for all of the information they need to make their GIJ weekend stress-free,” Mr Roberts said.
“This is just one of the many steps being made to provide a new digital lens to our event delivery with more bold plans for the future to investigate improved connectivity, linkingv with international schools and a global audience.”
Registrations for the May 6-8 event are now open online at wwwgenerationsinjazz.com.au and entries are also open for the James Morrison Jazz Scholarship and vocal scholarships.
