Studio puts VCA at the cutting edge

The life and legacy of Australian jazz musician Brian Brown OAM has been honoured with the launch of a newly-upgraded recording studio at the Victorian College of the Arts in Southbank.

Mr Brown, who died in 2013, was a musician and educator who established the jazz and improvisation course at the VCA in 1980.

Minister for Creative Industries and member for Albert Park Martin Foley visited the campus last month to launch the studio as it hosted its first performance – a rendition of Brian Brown’s 1984 composition of Wildflowers.

Mr Foley said the new facility would enhance teaching, research and community engagement opportunities at the campus.

“For well over 40 years, the VCA has nurtured and grown our creative sector – attracting, training and retaining outstanding talent for Victoria,” he said.

“World class training needs world-class facilities, and this studio will help foster the next generation of musical talent and create projects that will be shared with the wider community.”

The new facility replaces a 35-year-old sound studio, which was regarded as one of the foremost state-of-the-art recording studios in Australia at the time.

As well as providing career development opportunities for countless students for more than three decades, the former studio hosted commercial recording sessions, including a recording by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

The upgrade, supported by the State Government through Creative Victoria, has expanded the live recording space and incorporated a range of 21st century technologies.