2017 FolkTas Grant Award

The 2017 FolkTas grant was awarded to Rachel Meyers for her project “A Jew in Tasmania: diaspora to home” which is a deeply personal musical project considering the experience of diaspora, emigration and Jewish culture as the basis for Rachel’s own musical practice.

Rachel is an accomplished musician herself and performs as an experimental Klezmer duo with Dave McNamara as “Meyers & McNamara” who are currently working towards their debut album. They have performed with several bands, such as The Tinderbox Collective, The Counterfeit Gypsies and Duo Swango. Rachel has also completed a postgraduate research degree in musicology and worked on various other research projects.

The Folk Federation of Tasmania’s committee wishes Rachel well with her ambitious CD and performance project and looks forward to the full lecture/ recital and accompanying album launch at Hobart’s historic Synagogue in 2018.  Benefits will flow to the folk community and beyond with Rachel’s themes and musical collaborations, beginning with an early presentation at the Cygnet Folk Festival 2018.