Meet Jade Nye, Jazz and Improvisation student at the University of Melbourne

Jade Nye. Photo by Giulia McGauran.
Jade Nye. Photo by Giulia McGauran.

Jade Nye auditioned at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music for voice studies, so she certainly wasn't expecting to graduate on the saxophone. And yet ..

I’m currently in my third year of the Jazz and Improvisation stream of the University of Melbourne Bachelor of Music course majoring in saxophone. I feel this year has already provided the greatest artistic growth for me, and I recognise who I am as a creator and how I want to perform. In the first two years of my undergraduate degree I felt an expectation to intellectualise everything I played and composed, but I am only now realising that I don’t exactly fit the conventional mould.

With my composition and improvisation, I am now trying to see how I can embrace feeling of unconventionality; by creating pieces that are grandiose and inter-disciplinary. I am inspired a lot by David Bowie in his approach to this, but I hope to apply my own musical background and jazz influence to my work. I am also inspired by other artists.

I was fortunate enough to receive the NCP Global Mobility Grant from the University of Melbourne that allowed me to travel to Beijing with a variegated group of brilliant art students from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, which was overwhelmingly inspiring.

The experience was so unexpected and phenomenal; it really opened my eyes to how colourful the artists of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music are, throughout all disciplines. It was such a career-shaping trip and I am amazed at how different I’d feel as a creator had I not had that experience. It’s proven to me what I value in art – authenticity, integrity and grit.

The Conservatorium never ceases to surprise me with new opportunities and ways to explore my craft. The University of Melbourne was not my first choice of study, but sometimes fate knows what you need better than you do.