COMPOSER Christopher Sainsbury from The Australian National University has won an inaugural national grant to help promote the work of Indigenous composers in Australia.

Dr Sainsbury has been awarded an Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) grant as part of the inaugural Indigenous Composers Initiative. The initiative gives emerging Indigenous composers the chance to be mentored by established composers, to craft original pieces, and to have the music showcased.

He says the idea was sparked by a need he identified from his years working at Eora College in Redfern, Sydney.

“In that setting, I realised there were a lot of Aboriginal musicians who could potentially be composers in a broader sense,” he says, “Many were sort of skirting around the edge, or actually engaged in new music through the music they were doing for film and theatre.”

Dr Sainsbury and his partners in the project recognised that many Indigenous musicians needed some kind of support to help them emerge as composers. He cited cultural and family obligations and other unique situations they may face.

“We certainly envisage that this project will have a longer lifespan than the life of the grant, and that a growing body of work from Indigenous composers will start to land on airwaves, on music curricula, and beyond.”

The grant, valued at $26,000, will be supported by partners including the ANU School of Music, Australian Music Centre, Eora College Redfern, Mooghalin Performing Arts Redfern, Indigenous ethnomusicologist Clint Bracknell and jazz lecturer Kevin Hunt at the Sydney University Conservatorium, and performance group Ensemble Offspring.

The project is set to culminate in performances of pieces by emerging Indigenous composers in 2017.

News all day, every day at CityNews.com.au.