Arts Minister Virginia Judge has announced a NSW Government initiative to support emerging indigenous artists at Bluesfest Byron Bay.
Ms Judge said the Government will invest $12,000 to give three new indigenous musicians an opportunity to perform on the First Nation stage at Bluesfest 2011. The three artists will be selected from MusicNSW’s Whichway program and the Troy Cassar-Daley Scholarship by a panel of representatives from MusicNSW, Country Music Association of Australia, Bluesfest and Arts NSW.
“Bluesfest provides a global stage for indigenous musicians so this is a fantastic opportunity for new artists to promote their talent,” Ms Judge said.
MusicNSW is thrilled to be able to add this opportunity to the existing projects currently being run through the Whichway Program, focused on developing and building the capacity of indigenous artists and industry in NSW. Throughout its 10 year history Whichway has supported the careers of Wire MC, Emma Donovan, The Last Kinection, Anthony Green and many many more. Whichway has just completed an advance workshop with 11 of NSW’s most talented indigenous musicians and is preparing for the commencement of its Whichway Up EP program and a regional workshop to take place in Tamworth later this year.
