Ballarat Jazz Club

Our association with the Ballarat High School music department started in 2014 as the brain child of our past President Geoff Herkes. Geoff was a passionate ex-school teacher who loved working with teenagers and he loved his music. Combining both became his mission - to have the jazz club combine with the Ballarat High School music department, headed by Damien Woods and Bryn Hills, in fostering the next generation of jazz musicians.

The Ballarat High School music department is a diverse collaboration of styles, sounds and explorations. Over 800 students undertake classroom music every week and some 300 students comprise the instrumental component of the department. The music department has teacher led ensembles and a multitude of student led ones. These ensembles range from 50 piece show bands to concert bands to smaller stage bands. The philosophy of the music department centres on “learning by doing” as its central core, with a multitude of live performances each term giving the students performance opportunities. In line with this concept, the Ballarat Jazz Club supports this philosophy by giving the students live performance experience at our club.

In 2014 when Geoff created this event, we could not have envisioned that it would become such an important event in our club calendar. Geoff would be pleased indeed to know that this event is as important to the Ballarat High music department as it is to the Ballarat Jazz Club. Staff members as well as ex-students look forward to coming back and joining the line-up. In 2019, this event became the Geoff Herkes Memorial Award in honour of Geoff after his passing in early 2019.

To date our club has contributed a total of $6300 to the Ballarat High School music department and we hope that this association continues will into the future, knowing that we have made a difference to the young musicians of the future!

Cindy Turnbow

Ballarat Jazz Club Committee