Mike Davison leads jazz students on Australian tour
“The best part of the trip, for me, is seeing the experience change students’ lives,” said music professor Mike Davison.
This was the fifth year Davison has taken University of Richmond jazz students to Australia, where they spend half their time in workshops with students at Central Queensland University and half their time playing gigs on Hamilton Island against the backdrop of the Great Barrier Reef.
In the past, Davison had limited the trip to the six- or seven-student jazz combo; this year, though, he included the jazz ensemble, expanding the group to 12 students. They spent a week at Central Queensland University at Rockhampton, where Davison lectured on Cuban music and showed his documentary, “Cuba: Rhythm in Motion.”
Richmond students stayed in the homes of the Australian students, an experience that Davison says helped break down cultural myths on both sides. Students from both schools came together to play two concerts in Rockhampton—one city-wide show on the Fitzroy River and one on CQU Rockhampton’s campus.
“The jazz department at CQU just moved to this larger campus at Rockhampton and it’s a lot different than what we do at Richmond since it’s all jazz,” said Davison. “There are combos playing standard jazz, Latin jazz, blues and a large number of other forms. While we were at CQU, it was great for the students to learn and play in this totally different kind of atmosphere.”
After a week in Rockhampton, the Richmond group, accompanied by students and faculty from CQU, traveled to Hamilton Island, a resort destination located off Australia’s northwest coast. They played venues all over the island, from five-star hotels where they didn’t use amplifiers or microphones to open-air, outdoor gigs to private clubs.
Two aspects of this year’s performances made the trip especially unique: first, the Richmond and CQU students performed in mixed groups, forming impromptu combos that had never played together before.
“That created some great sink or swim kind of moments,” said Davison.
The second thing that made this year different is that Davison did not play with his students.
“It was like cutting the umbilical cord,” he said. “But they could handle it.“
Davison’s confidence came partly from the fact that students like Michael Coleman, ’09, and Kevin Farrelly, ’09, had not only done the trip before but had been playing with Davison since their first years at Richmond. Joining Coleman and Farrelly, though, were several students experiencing the trip for the first time.
“This was one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life! Not only were we completely immersed in Australian culture but we also got to make music and create friendships with some really amazing people” said Ellen Broen, ’12. “I mean, we got to jam on Hamilton Island for a week! If only everyone could go on this trip—it was completely mind-blowing.”
“While hanging out in the Great Barrier Reef was really fun, probably the best part of the trip was getting to interact with other young musicians,” said Thomas King, ’12. “The students from CQU were really good hosts, and we had a great time bonding with them. And on top of the social aspects, it was an important educational experience. We actually spent time as working musicians playing in restaurants. That aspect of playing jazz is something that can only be developed by actual experience, and it was a really valuable part of this trip.”