BIOGRAPHY
The daughter of a professional musician, Rochelle was very lucky to be exposed to many talented artists and different genres from a very young age, including Jazz, Funk, Fusion, Samba, Classical, Gospel, R&B and Soul amongst many others. At the age of 9, Rochelle would take her father's jazz albums and secretly listen to them alone in her room.
After trying many different instruments and never feeling completely at home, primarily the Alto Saxophone, of which she was self taught and played for some 10 years, she was eventually drawn to her naturally calling, composition. With a natural ear for improvisation and jazz harmony, Rochelle found herself writing very complex music from the get go and began astounding people with the sophistication of her music considering her age and her minimal theoretical knowledge. She immediately began creating a stir within the music industry with her intuitive, unique and undeniable talent.
In May 2012, Rochelle made the top ten in the Jazz/Classical category for the nationwide MusicOz awards and was a finalist in the Australian song writing competition open category.
In 2013 she was accepted into the prestigious Sydney Conservatorium of Music for composition and was one of the first jazz composers to be accepted into the undergraduate classical course.
In 2014 her piece Sonic Memory was included in repertoire for the Australian army band Sydney, and in the same year was invited out of a world wide pool of composers to attend and write for the Atlantic Classical Music Festival in Maine, USA.
2015 Rochelle went onto to make finalist in the Worldwide composition competition for the Seattle Women's Jazz orchestra USA for her piece In Motion.
SInce 2014 Rochelle has travelled multiple times to New York studying with some of the greatest composers and arrangers in the world including Gil Goldstein & Garry Dial and has gained recognition from many respected artists including members of "The Roots".
In 2017 Rochelle was selected out of 3000 applicants into the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, New York and was awarded a part MSM scholarship.
"FANTASTIC MUSICAL INSTINCTS" - Jim McNeely USA (Multiple Grammy Winning Pianist/Arranger/Composer)
"Rochelle's musical ideas are excellent, displaying a sophisticated understanding of harmonic and rhythmic cycles and a strong melodic sense." - Sandy Evans OAM
"A passionate, imaginative, intelligent and dedicated composer" - Sandy Evans OAM (Muti-Award winning Composer & Saxophonist, and order of Australia Medal Recipient)
"I haven't heard this much depth/knowledge from an artist this young in years. Just fantastic!" - Kere Buchanan (Delta Goodrem, Marcia Hines, Kasey Chambers, Tina Arena)
"Very contemporary and fearless" - Jim Kelly (Composer, producer, guitar virtuoso, founder of Crossfire)
MEDIA RELEASE - Tuesday 12th September 2017
Australian Composer Announces Debut EP is in the works
Contemporary Australian Composer Rochelle Scorgie has announced her debut EP is in the works for an expected release date mid next year. The Sydney based composer said the EP was a long time coming and had been the culmination of years of musical learning and life lessons. "The EP will be a new contemporary approach to big band writing, I intend to write music for today. I want to include all my many influences and experiences in the music. I don't want it to be labelled, it's not Jazz, but music that encompasses everything. It will be fresh, intense, modern, challenging, emotive and accessible!" says Scorgie.
"I want large ensemble writing to get the attention it deserves. One of the greatest instrument line ups is the traditional big band. It's strength and it's range is phenomenal, it can blast you through the roof with it's power or give you the chills with it's sensitivity."
Scorgie intends to use some of Australia's finest musicians on the yet to be titled album. "I want it to be fun for the musicians to play, I want it to be something they are excited about, because ultimately that is going to come out in the music".
Just coming off being accepted into the prestigious Manhattan School Of Music for her Masters in Jazz Composition, we ask Scorgie what her focuses are on currently. "Right now all I am focusing on is composing new material and getting it to a very high quality. That's all it comes down to at the end of the day, the music is everything. I need to get that right before I can do anything else. I want every song to be better than the last."
The yet to be titled EP is for expected release January 2019.