Wiradjuri vocalist and composer Shauntai Abdul-Rahman has been announced as the 2026/27 First Nations Artist Residency program leader at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

Shauntai Abdul-Rahman. Photo supplied

Abdul-Rahman works across the genres of classical music, opera, soul and gospel music. She made her debut with Opera Australia in The Drover’s Wife, and has performed with Short Black Opera in Pecan Summer and Parrwang Lifts the Sky, Victorian Opera’s The Visitors and as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra,

As a composer, Abdul-Rahman has been commissioned by the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival to write works for its opening and closing galas. She’s also currently writing a new Australian musical inspired by the life of her late father, the boxer Wally Carr.

The MIJF’s residency program awards an artist a $7,500 commissioning fee for the development of a brand new work, a performance engagement at the festival, a $7,500 professional and artistic development from the Australian Art Orchestra and a range of mentorship opportunities.

“I am deeply honoured to be selected for the MIJF FNAR program with the generous support of AAO, MIJF and Songlines,” said Abdul-Rahman.

“This year is an invitation to weave together classical form, jazz improvisation, and First Nations storytelling as the core of my practice. I am so excited to present this through new musical works and a song cycle reclaiming the European art song form through First Nations language, musical values, and spiritual worldview”.

More about the the Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s First Nations Artist Residency can be found here.