Melbourne International Jazz Festival announces 2020 digital festival

The physical event was set to kick off next week. 

On Friday May 29, the 23rd Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) was set to kick off featuring performances from more than 500 Australian and international artists across more than 25 venues. 

But as a result of the current crisis, the festival has been forced to adapt quickly and will now present the much-anticipated event in an online format. Titled These Digital Times, the digital music festival series will feature performances from local and international artists on the last Saturday of May, June and July. 

Live-streamed via the MIJF website straight to YouTube in high definition, the festival is completely free and will combine live performances from some of the biggest names in Australian and international jazz with career development panels for artists and industry professionals. Each event will kick off from 12pm and run until 10:30pm. 

The first event taking place on Saturday May 30 will welcome the likes of multi-ARIA award-winning singer Kate Ceberano performing songs from her jazz back catalog, revered local artist Kaiit closing the night with her party-starting energy and inimitable take on neo-soul as well as an appearance from mesmerising vocalist Gretchen Parlato alongside her partner and internationally-renowned drummer and composer Mark Guiliana, all the way from the US.

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