First Nations Artist Residency

Introducing the 2026/27 First Nations Artist Residency program leader

Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF), together with the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) and Songlines Aboriginal Music Corporation, is excited to announce that Shauntai Abdul-Rahman has been selected as the 2026/27 First Nations Artist Residency program leader.

Shauntai Abdul-Rahman is an award-winning Wiradjuri soprano renowned for her versatility, artistry, and commanding stage presence. A vocalist and composer with a multifaceted practice, she moves seamlessly across opera, gospel, First Nations storytelling, classical composition, and theatre-making. Abdul-Rahman has collaborated with leading organisations including Opera Australia, QPAC, Short Black Opera, Victorian Opera, MIFF, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Ilbijerri. She is also the founder of Blak Opal Creative, an exciting new initiative dedicated to showcasing First Nations excellence through artistry.

Abdul-Rahman says of the program: “I am deeply honoured to be selected for the MIJF FNAR program with the generous support of AAO, MIJF and Songlines. This year is an invitation to weave together classical form, jazz improvisation, and First Nations storytelling as the core of my practice. I am so excited to present this through new musical works and a song cycle reclaiming the European art song form through First Nations language, musical values, and spiritual worldview”.

Find out more and hear more from Abdul-Rahman on our Content Hub.

About the Program

Melbourne International Jazz Festival, the Australian Art Orchestra and Songlines Music Aboriginal Corporation respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which our festival and activities take place, the People of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, as well as to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider Melbourne community and beyond. We are honoured to contribute to the over 60,000 years of music making and culture that has taken place on this land.

The First Nations Artist Residency program is an artistic and professional development initiative presented in partnership between the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF), the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) and Songlines Music Aboriginal Corporation. The program supports the career development of a First Nations musician with a practice in jazz, improvisation, singer-songwriter music, hip-hop, soul, or contemporary art music and its composition.

The FNAR program leader receives:

• A $7,500 commission fee from MIJF to develop a new work.
• A performance outcome at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival 2027, including a separate performance fee.
• A $7,500 professional and artistic development bursary from the AAO.
• Producing support and mentorship from MIJF and AAO staff to develop and present the work.
• Consultation session(s) with a member of AAO’s First Nations Artistic Advisory Circle (Kutcha Edwards, Brenda Gifford, Adam Manning and David Arden).
• Mentoring and consultation with Songlines Music Aboriginal Corporation (Uncle Rob Bundle).
• Ticketing package for MIJF 2026/27 and artistic/industry networking opportunities.

Program Alumni