26 May 2025 - featuring: Ben Lerner Quartet & Novak Manojlovic Solo
Ben Lerner is an outstanding young artist who has quickly established himself as one of the emerging voices in Jazz and on the Alto Saxophone in Australia. Since moving to Sydney from Auckland in 2020, Ben has received the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Scholarship the Henderson Global Mobility Scholarship, the Ernest Heine Family Foundation Scholarship, and has played with the likes of Mike Nock, Matt McMahon, Laurence Pike, Steve Barry, Andy Gander, Jonathan Crayford, and many other greats. He was a finalist for the prestigious National Jazz Award in 2024.
Ben has honed his craft under the tutelage of artists such as George Garzone, Immanuel Wilkins, Dr Roger Manins, Will Vinson, Dr Simon Barker, Dr Jo Lawry and many more. After forming the Ben Lerner Quartet in early 2021 as an outlet to workshop and perform his original compositions, Ben has quickly found his feet as a band leader. This has culminated in performing as a part of SIMA's Jazz:NOW summer festival, the Inner West Jazz Fest, a tour of New Zealand, a tour of the East Coast of NSW/QLD, and various appearances in venues around Sydney. Ben performs frequently as a freelancing musician around Sydney, and is an in demand sideman. He is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and is will begin a Masters Degree on a scholarship at the esteemed Manhattan School of Music in September 2025. His East Coast Tour of 2025 anticipates the recording and release of his debut album as a bandleader later in the year.
The Ben Lerner Quartet features Steve Barry (Piano), Max Alduca (Double Bass) and Alex Young (Drums), and performs a selection of Ben’s compositions.
pianist/composer/improvisor based in sydney, australia
novak’s work describes a fascination with contrasts; new and old, acoustic and electronic, diatonic and atonal, abrasive and meditative. in navigating the friction between conflicting aesthetics across the breadth of his output, one can hear his efforts to move traditional composition and performance practice into a contemporary context through sonic manipulation, visual augmentation and harmonic iconoclasm. novak has written, arranged, recorded and performed works which defy easy categorisation for a range of settings from solo piano to orchestra and was recognised in his reception of the freedman fellowship (jazz) in 2019.
novak’s current active projects are HEKKA, NoMansLand and Colourfields. he has released two albums under the moniker Grown Ocean as well as Places, People (ABC Music) under his own name. he has worked as a musical director, composer, arranger, session musician or collaborator with NGAIIRE, Sampa The Great, Godtet, Bonniesongs, Wallace, The Glider, Believe, Earshift Orchestra, Microfiche, Martha Marlow and more.
"Monday Night Confessions" is a weekly show presenting original jazz/improvised music. Run out of Church Street Studios in Camperdown, Sydney, we acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
Doors 7:30pm
Show 8:00pm
Tickets: $15 Student / $25 General Admission
BYO drinks