Rafael Karlen

LABEL: Pinnacles Music

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Rafael Karlen has spent the majority of his life in Australia. Coming from a very musical family, Rafael only felt the need to take up the saxophone when he was thirteen. Rafael went on to complete a Bachelor of Contemporary Music Performance (Saxophone) at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University in 2004. While studying at the Conservatorium, he performed in various master classes and workshops held by internationally recognised Jazz artists, including James Morrison, Paul Grawbowski, Sandy Evans, Julien Wilson and Jim Pugh (New York). Rafael includes the late master saxophone/composer Tony Hobbs, Elliot Dalgleish, Mal Cunningham, Ken Stubbs and Karl-Martin Almqvist (Sweden) as his primary teachers and role models in performance and composition.
 
Rafael has performed at various Jazz and Music Festivals throughout Australia, including the Brisbane River Festival, Palmer St. Jazz Festival in Townsville, Island times Reggae Festival on Stradbroke Island, Noosa Jazz Festival, QLD Outback Festival in Winton, Valley Jazz Festival, BigSound music showcase and the Brisbane Jazz Festival, in both smaller groups and Big Bands. Since 2004, Rafael has been part of the Brisbane based ensemble the West End Composers Collective, playing saxophones and flutes. Rafael has taught and lectured in saxophone, flute, clarinet and ensemble performance at the JazzWorx Music Institute, Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Forest Lake College and currently teaches saxophone at the Anglican Church Boys Grammar School (Churchie) in Brisbane.
 
Rafael has written original compositions and arrangements for The West End Composers Collective, The Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, Two Man Band and The Con Artists Big Band. In 2008, he was a finalist in the APRA/JMO National Big Band Competition in Sydney, and the QSong song writing competition. Australian Jazz artists Stephen Newcomb, Dave Theak, Kristin Berardi, James Sherlock, Megan Washington and Sean Foran also regularly perform his original compositions and arrangements. Rafael is regularly commissioned by a number of artists from different musical genres to compose instrumental additions to their work.
 
In late 2007, Rafael was awarded funding from both the Australia Council for the Arts and the Foundation for Young Australians to record his original compositions for the ten-piece ensemble, the West End Composers Collective.  His album, Driving Hat, was launched in August 2008 and has since received critical acclaim.  This recording features many of Brisbane’s finest improvising musicians including, Megan Washington, Hannah Macklin, James Sherlock, Steve Newcomb, Joe Marchisella, Mark Spencer, Graeme Norris, Shannon Marshall, Mikael Strand, and Georgia Weber.  Rafael has recently been commissioned to compose a piece for the Q150 Celebration to premier in 2009 for the 150th Birthday of Queensland as an Independent State.

For more details, visit http://www.pinnaclesmusic.com.au