Breakthrough Indigenous contemporary music pilot initiative

Tessa Nuku and Brendon Boney singing
“The fact is that contemporary Indigenous music is one of the most important vehicles for young Indigenous people in this country to express their creativity and their culture...”
- Peter Garrett, Minister for the Arts

New: Second round of Breakthrough grants announced!

Second round of Breakthrough grants recipients announced! - July 2010

About Breakthrough

Breakthrough is a pilot initiative of the Cultural Ministers Council External link which aims to take Indigenous contemporary music to a wider listening audience. Breakthrough is one of the outcomes of the Indigenous Contemporary Music Action Plan External link.

In December 2009, the Minister for the Arts announced on behalf of the CMC the continuation of Breakthrough for a further 12 months.

The aim of Breakthrough is to support emerging Indigenous musicians/groups to produce a high quality recording of a CD, suitable for broadcasting and commercial release. It is hoped this will provide greater exposure for the talent and creativity of Indigenous musicians as well as increase national and international audiences for Indigenous contemporary music.

Breakthrough will fund up to $25,000 per successful applicant to help produce a high quality recording of their CD. This funding can also assist with:

Second round of Breakthrough grants announced!

On 8 July 2010 the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts approved the recommendations of the Breakthrough assessment panel for the second round of Breakthrough grants. The assessment panel's recommendations were also approved by the Chair of the Cultural Ministers Council Standing Committee.

The successful recipients of the 2010 Breakthrough funding are:

  • The Medics—a four member indie group from Cairns, Queensland
  • White House—a four member funk/rap/rock group from Sydney, New South Wales
  • Sue Ray—a country/folk singer/songwriter from Toowoomba, Queensland
  • The Iwantja band—a five member desert reggae/blues/heavy metal group from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia.

The second round of Breakthrough was highly competitive with over 30 applications submitted for consideration by the assessment panel.

All applicants will be receiving written feedback on their applications shortly.

2010 Breakthrough assessment panel

The 2010 Breakthrough assessment panel membership includes Christine Anu, Rhoda Roberts, Robert Collins, Graeme "Buzz" Bidstrup and Vicki Gordon. The membership of the panel was agreed to by the Cultural Ministers Council Standing Committee.

The assessment panel assessed each application against the selection criteria as published in the Breakthrough program guidelines, and provided their advice to the Cultural Ministers Council Standing Committee and the Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts.

For more information please phone the project officer on 02 6275 9535 or email contemporary.music@environment.gov.au.

Previous round

Related media releases

 

Image details

Tessa Nuku and Brendon Boney of Microwave Jenny

Photo: John Brash

In this section