Following a stellar large ensemble performance, clarinettist and composer Phillippa Murphy-Haste has won the 2023 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, taking home a prize of $21,000 to be put towards the development of a new album.

Phillippa Murphy-Haste. Photo © Shane Rozario

This year’s Freedman Jazz Fellowship was held in The Neilson, at the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s home at Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay on 2 September. Murphy-Haste competed for the winning spot alongside fellow finalists, saxophonist Sam Gill and guitarist Theo Carbo.

The 2023 judging panel comprised drummer and experimental electronic luminary Laurence Pike, jazz piano legend Chris Cody and esteemed trumpeter/composer Ellen Kirkwood; though Kirkwood was unable to attend the performance. The winner is chosen on both the merit of their performance on the night and the project for which the prize money would be used.

“Theo, Sam and Phillippa all possess seriously impressive musicianship, creativity and demonstrated attention to detail in their projects,” said Pike and Cody. “This art form is one of the most uniquely human...