Have a one-on-one with the future.
Shortlisted by SIMA’s Artistic Advisory Committee.
Judy Bailey Emerging Composer Award
The annual Judy Bailey Emerging Composer Award gives an emerging or mid-career composer one-on-one mentorship to develop a new work for a jazz ensemble.
By working side by side with a composer or artist of their choice, the mentee benefits from time with an established, experienced musician, and the chance to collaborate with a leader in the field of jazz and improvised music. Recipients are also provided with a high profile performance opportunity to premiere the commission.
JBEC Award Winner 2026: Sabine Tapia
Sabine Tapia is a bass player, vocalist and songwriter based in Sydney. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, she is a sought-after collaborator who is a significant voice in the exciting wave of Sydney ‘nu-jazz’, playing in such ensembles as Zodiac Quartet, Murmurations, Very Fast Band and more, as well as working with Barney McAll’s Quintet and Harry Sutherland’s Escape Squares. While her compositional prowess can be heard across a number of these groups, her rich work as a composer is primarily presented under her own name, or in collaboration with guitarist Harley Coleman.
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Program Details
The Judy Bailey Emerging Composer Award was established in 2024 to honour jazz icon Judy Bailey’s significant contribution to nurturing young Australian jazz musicians, and provides an emerging musician or composer with a financial contribution of $1,500 towards the realisation of a new work. A further provision of $300 is granted towards mentorship sessions with a composer or artist of choice. The work is then premiered via a paid performance at one of SIMA’s flagship events, either in the Jazz:NOW series, at the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival, or a specially presented one-off concert. For this, a further performance fee is given of $300 per ensemble performer up to a total of $1,200 (excluding the composer) for a total Award package of up to $3,000. Each year a recipient is selected by SIMA’s Artistic Director with assistance from the Artistic Advisory Board. Prospective recipients must reside in Australia, and may send enquiries, including links to previous compositions, to SIMA’s Artistic Director for consideration. Prior to 2024, this program was known as the Emerging Composers Mentorship.
Previous Recipients
2026 Sabine Tapia
2025 Hinano Fujisaki ‘Lungfish’
2021-22 Tom Botting, Sam Gill, Rochelle Scorgie & Flora Carbo
2020 Sophie Min as SHAMIN ‘fine gnaw’
2019 Cheryl Durongpisitkul ‘Follow Me Through the Red Ash’
2018 Harri Harding ‘Saltwater’
2017 Freyja Garbett ‘Maya’
