The Brisbane saxophonist, one of Australia’s brightest young performers, will be funded to do overseas research.

Brisbane-based composer and saxophonist Rafael Karlen is one of 109 Australians to have been awarded a prestigious Churchill Fellowship. “The Churchill Fellowships were established to enable emerging specialists to bring knowledge back to Australia in order to benefit the wider community,” said Paul Tys, the CEO of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. “Rafael’s project is the epitome of this.”

Karlen graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 2004, and in addition to being active as a performer and composer, he directs the Queensland Youth Orchestra Big Band and lectures at several music institutions. As a Churchill Fellow, he plans to travel across Europe to identify the creative processes of successful international ensembles, composers and performers.

“My goal is to seek out people and ensembles that I admire and respect that are producing some of the most exciting music in their field at a high international level,” Karlen said. “I will spend time with people and ensembles including The Metropole Orkest and Vince Mendoza in Holland, The WDR Big Band, and Florian Ross in Germany, The Danish Radio Big Band, Tord Gustavsen in Norway, and...