Mace Francis (born 1978) is an Australian composer and academic.

Career

Francis moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 2000 to study jazz composition and arranging. He graduated from WA Academy of Performing Arts in 2004 and completed a PhD at

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman. Gaining unive ...

in 2015. In 2003 he was nominated for the

Australian Jazz Bell Awards Australian Jazz Bell Awards, also known as the Bell Awards or The Bells, are annual music awards for the jazz music genre in Australia. They were named in honour of Australian jazz pianist, composer and band leader, Graeme Bell (1914–2012), a ...

' Best Australian Jazz Song of the Year for ''Land Speed Record'' off his album of the same name The album was recorded with a nonet in New York and included American saxophonist Jon Gordon. It was released on Listen/Hear Collective, a record label run by Francis and Johannes Luebbers in Perth. In 2005 Francis formed the Mace Francis Orchestra and they released seven albums over the next 15 years. Their album ''Music for Average Photography'' was nominated for two awards, making the 2016 Australian Jazz Bell Awards shortlist for Best Australian Jazz Ensemble, and winning 2015's Art Music Awards for Jazz Work of the Year. Since 2008 Francis has been Artistic Director of the

West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra The West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO) is an Australian youth jazz orchestra based in Perth, Western Australia. WAYJO has 54 jazz musicians between 14 and 25 years of age and currently presents over 55 performances a year across Aus ...

, and Musical Director for their Wednesday Night Orchestra. He has also held the position of Festival Director at the

Perth International Jazz Festival The Perth International Jazz Festival (PIJF) is an annual jazz festival event held over three days in early November. This jazz festival incorporates both ticketed and free community events. Its location over the festival weekend spans across the ...

since 2017 after the festivals founder and previous Festival Director Graham Wood died. For his 2021 album ''Isolation Emancipation'', Francis recorded himself playing the trombone for the first time, after he began learning the instrument in 2015. The album was released with a new band Mace Francis Plus 11.

Awards

Academic papers

''From traffic rises: Site specificity and the compositional process'' (2016) ''Music in Site: Integrating elements of site-specificity into composition'' (2015) ''Site in Sound: A Review of Four Musical Works that Integrate Site Into Sound'' (2012) with Cat Hope ''Bob Brookmeyer: composer, performer, pedagogue'' (2006)

References

External links

*
Mace Francis on Edith Cowan University Research Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Mace Living people Australian composers 1978 births Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts alumni Edith Cowan University alumni Musicians from Geelong