To celebrate UNESCO’s International Jazz Day on April 30, the UNESCO Music Cities’ International Jazz Day Relay will see artists from more than 20 cities participate and perform Mark’s original composition. A composition and individual performances will be released online, and Mark and the Adelaide Edition will perform at the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Jazz Day event.
“I was thinking about how important these regional tours are,” Mark said. “Young people, regardless of where they live, need to hear music live, and young musicians need the opportunity to workshop with more experienced ones to expand their horizons and build their confidence and resilience”.
Another thing on his mind was sustainability, “Port Augusta used to have a coal-fired power station: now it is a hub for renewable energy with solar and wind farms and a concentrated solar thermal plant. For the sake of our future, we desperately need to keep moving in this direction and educating people to see the benefits of sustainable practices”.
So at 3:23 am Mark opened his computer to write down the musical ideas that were coming to him. There is an urgency built into the piece—most phrases are 3 bars in length, not 4—urgent action is needed both to make high-quality education more accessible and to make sustainability a priority.
Elder Conservatorium’s Head of Jazz, Mark Simeon Ferguson, has facilitated the ‘Adelaide Edition’ of the UNESCO Cities of Music International Jazz Day Relay since its inception in 2023, bringing current students, recent graduates, and staff together to record the year’s designated composition. 2025’s ‘Edition’ features Aria award winner James Muller.
This global recognition of Adelaide’s ongoing contribution to jazz culture is fitting as we celebrate our 10th Anniversary as a UNESCO City of Music and as Adelaide’s Jazz Scene continues to grow and evolve.
The city’s love and commitment to jazz can be seen in the Adelaide Festival Centre’s annual UNESCO Jazz Day performance and the growth of live jazz year-round and across Adelaide.
Now in its third year and growing, the Adelaide Jazz Festival provides another opportunity to celebrate our state’s wonderful, world-leading music community.
Adelaide City of Music would like to congratulate and thank Mark and his wonderful team at the Elder Conservatorium of Music and Capital Waste Pictures for bringing this year’s edition to life.
We encourage everyone to go out and enjoy our state’s wonderful jazz culture and support our artists and live music venues.