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Fiona Burnett
Soprano Saxophonist / Composer
Born in Sydney in 1971, Fiona moved to Melbourne in 1992 to
study at the Victorian College of the Arts. In 1997 she completed a Masters
of Music Performance degree at the VCA obtaining First Class Honours in performance,
during this period Fiona studied with leading contemporary composer Mary Finsterer
and classical saxophonist Graeme Shilton.
Fiona has also completed a Bachelor of Music Performance at te VCA and a Diploma
of Education at La Trobe University.
In 1992 Fiona founded the contemporary jazz ensamble Morgana. Morgana comprises
of five women musicians performing original repertoire. This ensamble has
since been recognised as a leading force in Australian improvised music. Morgana
has performed at many prestigious events including Pinnacles - A Festival
of Improvised Music, Brisbane, The Kiama Jazz Festival, The Wangaratta Festival
of Jazz, The Melbourne International Festival, The Australian Women's Jazz
Festival, The Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and the
Perth International Festival of the Arts. Morgana's
debut CD Talk Walk Whisper was nominated for Best Jazz Album at the 1996 ARIA's.
Talk Walk Whisper was recorded at the ABC for Jim Mcleod's Jazztrack and was
also funded by the Australia Council. Morgana was granted funding from Playing
Australia in May 1996 and completed a successful national tour in the following
Spetember. In 1998 Morgana's second CD Have You Heard The News Today
(Newmarket Music) was recorded with assistance from Arts Victoria.
Other signifigant proffessional engagements include performances with the London based ensemble Grand Union Orchestra and Bending the Willow, at the Victorian Arts Centre a dance, theatre, music production with Sydney percussionist / composer, Blair Greenberg and choreographer Don Asker.
In 1998 Fiona travelled to Quebec, Canada where she took up an invitation to attend a young composer's symposium at Le Domaine Forget Music and Dance Academy. During this time she undertook study with Italian composer Luca Francesconi and had the opportunity to workshop her composition for chamber orchestra, Inguz, with the outstanding Canadian contemporary ensemble, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne.
In 1997 Fiona formed her own quartet. In this ensemble she performs original material and modern jazz standards. This quartet comprises of a powerful rythm section and includes pianist Mark Fitzgibbon. In 1998 the Fiona Burnett Quartet recorded for Jim Mcleod's show Jazztrack on ABC Classic FM. This recording has since been released as Venus Rising (Newmarket Music). Venus Rising was nominated for an ARIA in the category of Best Jazz Album for 1999.
Fiona has recently received funding from the Contemporary Music's Touring Fund to tour this ensemble accross Australia in April 2000.
In December 1999 Fiona premiered her composition "Soaring @ Dawn" a suite for soprano saxophone, string quartet, double bass,and drums, at the Melbourne Women's Jazz Festival. This performance highlighted Fiona as the featured soloist and also the Silo String Quartet, bassist Ben Robertson and drummer David Jones.
Fiona Burnett is endorsed through the Music Place South Melbourne, Australia to exclusively play Keilwerth soprano saxophones & Rico Jazz reeds.
All content is copyright ©2000, Fiona Burnett, except that owned by respective corporate entities.
