When Cheryl Durongpisitkul was in grade five, she sacked her piano teacher. She says she took advantage of her mother being ill to take things into her own hands, because she “hated learning classical piano”.

Though she laughs when she says this, as is often the case with the Melbourne-based saxophonist and composer, there’s more to the story. Her mother, Justina, suffered ovarian cancer and a bipolar disorder that marked Durongpisitkul’s childhood and adolescence. The condition ultimately led to her mother’s suicide when Durongpisitkul was 18 years old. Her father died six years later of cancer.

That loss of both parents at a young age informs the compositions Durongpisitkul is writing and performing for the 2023 Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF).

Cheryl Durongpisitkul. Photo supplied

In April this year, Durongpisitkul, 32, was awarded the MIJF’s Take Note fellowship – now in its fifth year. Designed to address the under-representation of women and gender diverse musicians in jazz, the award comes with a $5000 bursary to support the development of new music.

The award also includes a residency and the opportunity to travel to high schools across Victoria as part of the effort to...