Music Publishing Initiative

In 2006 the Music Board developed an initiative to produce a series of books on various key areas of music in Australia. The books, published by the University of NSW Press, aimed to fill a gap in the tertiary music education market while also remaining attractive to the general reader. Each book contains a companion CD of examples of Australian composition. To date, UNSW Press has published titles on jazz, new classical and experimental music, with a further book on world music in press.

Jazz: The Australian Accent
John Shand

Jazz: The Australian Accent explores the unique developments in Australian jazz over the last twenty years. Through interviews, anecdotes, analysis, and a companion CD, leading music journalist John Shand provides a fascinating insight into the innovative, cutting-edge scene that is Australian jazz. He argues that the jazz has become a defining force in our cultural landscape and that it is as lively and innovative as any overseas.

New Classical Music: Composing Australia
Gordon Kerry

This book offers an approachable and evocative introduction to classical music composed in Australia in recent decades. With a balance of historical background and detailed description, composer and music journalist Gordon Kerry explores a number of themes – landscape and spirituality, the influence of Europe and Asia – that bring together the exciting variety of new works and voices working in Australian music now.

Experimental Music: Audio Explorations in Australia
Gail Priest (ed.)

Experimental music has been mostly unrecognised in Australia, but it is in this ‘underground’ area that the major innovations and creative developments in music occur. Through testing perceived boundaries, breaking rules and creating new forms, the artists in this field force us to question what, in fact, music is. Written by artists who have been actively engaged in the areas they are covering, Experimental Music explores the development of forms, ideas and scenes from the 1970s to the present.