Dec 13 Symposium

"Can I make a career out of this?” 

Sandy Evans - Shannon Barnett - Lauren Kate Henderson - Lena Douglas

afternoon session 2.00pm-3.30pm

Free (bookings essential here)

Saturday Dec 13th 2.00-3.30pm

Kenneth Myer Auditorium – Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

Ian Potter Southbank Centre

33-43 Sturt Street Southbank

Presented in collaboration with major partner The University of Melbourne

"Can I make a career out of this?” 

Career Pathways for Improvisers -  which yellow brick road to follow…..

A panel of leading improvisers discuss their journeys and career pathways across a range of music industry sectors.

Bringing their unique voices into the conversation, trombonist/vocalist Shannon Barnett (Germany/Aus), saxophonist Sandy Evans (Syd), keyboardist/pianist/vocalist Lena Douglas (Denmark/Aus) and vocalist Lauren Kate Henderson (Adelaide) will discuss how they have navigated their career pathways in the music industry, and their education and musical journeys locally, nationally and internationally - past, present and future!

The insights provided by these leading musicians and improvisers might surprise you! 

Moderated by Gian Slater

Dr Sandy Evans OAM

 Sandy Evans is an internationally renowned saxophonist and composer with a passion for improvisation and new music. She has played with and written for some of the most important groups in Australian jazz since the early 1980s and has toured extensively in Australia, Europe, Canada and Asia. She leads the Sandy Evans Trio and Sextet, and co-leads the Evans/Robson Quartet, Shakti Spirit and Magic Music. She co-led GEST8 and Clarion Fracture Zone. She is a member of Mara!, The catholics, Ten Part Invention and austraLYSIS. Her group Women and Children First was a ground-breaking ensemble during the 1980s, undertaking an epic seven-month tour by bus around Australia. She has performed with many leading jazz and improvising musicians including Andrea Keller, Freyja Garbett, Satsuki Odamura, Tessie Overmyer, Paul Grabowsky, Silke Eberhard, Ingrid Jensen, Judy Bailey, Andrew Robson, Adrian Sherriff, the Australian Art Orchestra, Indra Lesmana, Hamed Sadeghi, Chris Cody, Chloe Kim, Brenda Gifford, Jess Green, Ben Walsh’s Orkestra of the Underground, SNAP, Han Bennink and Terri Lyne Carrington. Sandy has a keen interest in Indian classical music. She collaborates with Nadamhuni Gayatri Bharat in the ensemble Shakti Spirit. In 2014 Sandy was awarded a PhD from Macquarie University for practice-based research in Carnatic Jazz Intercultural music. I

 Sandy is an experienced teacher and has taught at UNSW, Macquarie University and in the Composition and Jazz Units at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.  She appears in the Australian jazz documentaries Beyond el Rocco and Dr Jazz. 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. Awards and Honours among many: Australian Jazz Bell Awards Hall of Fame, 2019; ART Music Award for Excellence in jazz for RockPoolMirror, 2018: Australia Council Fellowship 2017-2018, Churchill Fellowship 2014, AIR Award for Best Independent Jazz CD 2011, Order of Australia Medal 2010, Bell Award for Australian Jazz Musician of The Year 2003, 3 ARIA Awards, APRA Award, 2 Mo Awards

 Shannon Barnett

Shannon Barnett is an Australian trombonist and composer, currently based in Cologne, Germany.

She established herself as an important voice in the Australian scene by performing in ensembles including Vada, The Bamboos, The Vampires, and as a guest with the Andrea Keller Quartet, on the 2004 ABC Jazz release Angels and Rascals. Barnett has also appeared with the Australian Art Orchestra, Charlie Haden, Barney McAll's Mother of Dreams and Secrets feat. Kurt Rosenwinkel, and from 2009-2010, she worked as a multi-instrumentalist and composer with the contemporary circus group Circus Oz. In 2010, Barnett released her debut album as a leader, entitled 'Country', on the Which Way Music label. After attending a workshop at the Banff centre in Canada in the same year, Barnett was inspired to relocate to New York City, where she completed a Master of Music degree. There she performed with the likes of Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Pedro Giraudo, Cyrille Aimée and the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra of New York and was a regular member of the Birdland Big Band. In early 2014, she moved to Cologne, Germany, to take up a position with the WDR Big Band, which gave her the opportunity to perform with guests including Vince Mendoza, Ron Carter, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider and Paquito D'Rivera. She has also become very active in the local scene. Her quartet, featuring Stefan Karl Schmid, David Helm and Fabian Arends released their debut album 'Hype' in 2016 on Double Moon/Challenge Records, followed by 'Bad Lover' (2022 - Toy Piano Records) and 'Alive at Loft' (2023 - klaeng records).  Since April 2019 she has been Professor for Jazz Trombone at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, Germany.  

Lena Douglas

Lena Douglas is an Australian music maker from Melbourne. With a strong grounding as a pianist, her music moves fluidly through intricate harmony, sampled vocals, pop melodies and experimental textures. Her releases include EP Stockerz (2024) - a collection of experimental pop songs written while living on an island in Stockholm - and album Friends of the Future (2022), co-produced with Theo Carbo and intertwining influences from jazz, contemporary folk-pop, and minimalist additive compositional techniques.

In 2025, Lena completed a Master of Music Creation at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and is currently developing the third release under her own name. She has performed in Berlin, Cologne, Reykjavík, and Copenhagen, and has worked as a session musician for UK film composer Oliver Coates on The History of Sound and Pillion, which both premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Previous collaborative projects include Melbourne bands Tetrahedra, Tulalah, and Lazercatz 2000; co-founding the gender equality initiative YoWo Music; and working with choreographer Siobhan McKenna on her 2024 New Breed show for Sydney Dance Company.

Lauren Kate Henderson

Lauren Henderson is an award-winning vocalist, actor, composer, educator, and devoted mother of two. Renowned for her versatility and artistic range, Lauren moves seamlessly across genres and dynamic and genre-defying approach has led to collaborations with internationally acclaimed artists such as Moonchild, Jazzmeia Horn, Linda May Han Oh, Joe Chindamo, Anna Butterss, Matthew Sheens, James Muller, Gian Slater, Michelle Nicolle, Anita Wardell, Anna Goldsworthy, Robyn Archer, and The Lost and Found Orchestra (creators of STOMP!). A certified Estill Master Trainer and accomplished stage performer, Lauren holds an Honours degree in Acting from the prestigious Flinders Drama Centre. Her passion for artistic expression and creative empowerment informs both her performance and teaching practice, where she is committed to helping others unlock their full potential through the arts.

 Lauren’s accolades include:

-Winner, National Jazz Awards – Voice (2020)
-Nominee, Freedman Jazz Fellowship (2016)
-Semi-Finalist, Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition (Top 20, 2015)
-Recipient, Helpmann Academy Vocal Jazz Award (2013)
-Winner, DownBeat Student Music Award (2013)

Lauren currently lectures in jazz voice at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, and is set to release her highly anticipated debut solo album “Curves of the Brave", released under ABC jazz, in December 2025.

Gian Slater

Gian Slater is a vocalist and composer based in Melbourne with an approach that incorporates wordless singing and improvisation, songwriting; electronics and extended vocal techniques. She has released nine albums of her original music and composed 8 large-scale a cappella works for her vocal ensemble, Invenio. She has featured on many projects and recordings for acclaimed Australian and International artists and hasbeen a multiple finalist and recipient of awards, including Jazz Album of the Year for ‘Grey is Ground’ at the 2022 APRA Art Music Awards. 

Gian is a passionate long-time educator on the faculty at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music – Jazz and Improvisation Department.