Music For Victoria Fund Puts 980 Artists To Work

980 artists will perform across 85 venues in Victoria as a result of the Music For Victoria Fund being injected into the Victorian music community.

The Music for Victoria Fund is not a government grant. The fund was established through private donors supportive of the arts.

They include:

Beck Family Foundation
Creina Cadden
The Deague Family
David Evans
Rob Fildes
Geoff Freeman
Michael and Helen Gannon
John Higgins AO and Jodie Maunder
Craig Kimberley OAM and Connie Kimberley
Solomon Lew and Roza Lew
Eddie McGuire AM
Pratt Family Foundation
Denis Roche
Ken Roche AO
Gerry Ryan OAM and Val Ryan
Show Travel
Rick Smith AM
Swann Family Foundation

So far 149 Music For Victoria Fund grants have been approved with over $450,000 distributed so far. Artists who have been programmed as a result of the successful grants include Diesel, Ross Wilson, Thando, Mia Dyson, The Pierce Brothers, Bonnie Anderson, Kingswood, Ella Hooper, Rai Thistlethwayte, Chocolate Starfish, Renée Geyer, Jon Stevens and Daryl Braithwaite.

“Being able to perform our scaled back shows coming out of an intense lockdown meant so much to the band and brand that is Chocolate Starfish. Arts Centre Melbourne’s assistance in providing a grant enabled Melbourne Public and Starfish to approach the marketing and performance of the concert in a way that provided confidence to all parties. This obviously resonated with a sold out, truly united outcome that benefited all involved,” says Chocolate Starfish front man Adam Thompson.

52 metro and 33 regional venues have benefited from the grants so far but $97,000 is still available and the Fund is still accepting applications.

“It is wonderful to see the fantastic take-up of the Fund and hear of the incredible support it is offering the live music industry. The generosity of the many funders has been overwhelming and it’s providing the much needed injection into the industry by supporting so many artists and venues deeply affected by the pandemic. We’re more than thrilled that artists and venues across the state are able to reconnect with their audiences and enjoy the irreplaceable experience of live music,” says Arts Centre Melbourne CEO Claire Spencer AM.

Due to overwhelming interest, the Fund is very close to being exhausted and applications have paused. If venues would like to be notified when the Fund re-opens to accept applications in the future, they can email [email protected]

Noise11.com