The Japan Foundation Asia Centre is giving budding musicians in Southeast Asia a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a full-fledged orchestra on a tour of the region and Japan.
The inaugural edition of the Asian Youth Jazz Orchestra will kickstart a long-term aim towards building a collaborative platform for young musicians in the pursuit of future possibilities in Asian music. To this end, jazz was chosen due to its improvisational nature. The genre is fertile ground for individual creativity and off-hand spontaneity, thus meeting our purpose of creating distinctly new sounds and enhancing mutual respect among musicians.
16 places in the 26-man orchestra are up for grabs by ASEAN auditionees.
| Number of places for the ASEAN open call Trumpet | 2 Trombone | 2 Alto Sax | 1 Tenor Sax | 2 Clarinet | 5 Flute | 1 Euphonium | 1 Piano | 1 Latin Percussion | 1 |
Successful applicants will be able to participate in:-
1. Rehearsal camp in Tokyo (21 – 31 August, 2015)
* Participants to arrive in Tokyo on 20 August and depart on 1 September.
2. Southeast Asian tour (four weeks between mid-September to mid-October)
Performance venue: TBD (around 5-6 cities)
Overall number of performances: approx. 10
3. Japan tour (three weeks between December 2015 and January 2016)
Performance venue: TBD
Overall number of performances: approx. 3
Application is only limited to those?
1. 18 to 26 years of age (students, professionals or otherwise) as of September 2015
2. Holds permanent residency in any ASEAN country
3. Skilled in the instruments listed in the table above.
4. Understands the project objectives and purposes, is eager to participate and is available to participate in all AYJO activities (Rehearsal Camp in Tokyo, Southeast Asian Tour and Japan Tour)
5. Both physically and mentally fit to participate in all AYJO activities
6. Willing to actively communicate with AYJO participants from a wide variety of countries (Applicants with some proficiency in conducting everyday conversations in English are highly desirable)
7. Willing to further collaborate with musicians from home and abroad in his/her own musical activities after the programme ends
There are two steps in the screening process.
#1 Initial Screening
1. Judging criteria: application documents and audio demonstrations
2. Judges: Osamu Matsumoto (arranger, conductor and trombone guidance)/ Mayuko Katakura (piano guidance)/ Ryonosuke Hommura (producer)
3. Deadline for submission of application documents and audio demonstrations: midnight, January 21st, 2015.
* The Organiser will send a confirmation reply upon receipt of application via email.
* Applicants are advised to submit before the deadline date to avoid issues with email delivery. Applications submitted after the deadline WILL NOT be entertained.
4. Submission method: Send the items listed below via email to AYJOMalaysia@jfkl.org.my
a) Application form
b) Portrait photograph (to be used for publicity purposes)
c) Audio demonstrations
5. Please upload to SoundCloud your required piece listed below.
For trumpet, trombone and alto saxophone players, please select either the jazz or classical piece.
| Instrument | Jazz piece | Classical piece |
| Trumpet | Donna Lee (by Charlie Parker) | Characteristic Etudes / Arban Allegretto (by Baptiste Laurent Arban) |
| Trombone | Donna Lee (by Charlie Parker) | David Konzertino (by Ferdinand David) |
| Alto Saxophone | Confirmation (by Charlie Parker) | Concert en Mi ? (by Alexandre Glazounov) |
For the others, please play the designated pieces listed.
| Tenor Saxophone | Blue Train (by John Coltrane) |
| Clarinet | Sing Sing Sing (by Louis Prima)Cs?rd?s (by Vittorio Monti)* both pieces |
| Flute | Sonata a-moll, Allegro (by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach) |
| Euphonium | Arban 14 Characteristic Studies [1] (By Jean-Baptiste Arban) |
| Piano | Confirmation (by Charlie Parker) |
| Latin Percussion | Unspecified* We will ask you to play some rhythms on-site (ex. Swing Rhythm, African Rhythm and Funk Rhythm) |
Please contact us if you experience difficulties in accessing the listed pieces.
#2 Final Audition
1. Judging criteria: Set pieces, sight-reading and interview
2. Judges: Osamu Matsumoto (arranger, conductor and trombone guidance)/ Mayuko Katakura (piano guidance)/ Ryonosuke Hommura (producer)
3. Date: February 25th, 2015
4. Venue: Bentley Music Academy
5. Time allocated: approximately 20-30 minutes per person
6. Results: Announced to each participant via email no later than March 25th, 2015
To download documents pertaining to the audition, please click the links below, right-click the page and select ‘Save As’ from the drop-down menu:
1. Audition guidelines (PDF/199kb)
2. Audition application form (PDF/123kb)
For further enquiries, please email AYJOMalaysia@jfkl.org.my or call 603 2284 6228.
