Griffith Musicians Club looks to 2024 with Community Grant

The club are the recipients of one of Griffith City Council's 2023/24 first round of community grants, receiving $2500 to put on the Young Musicians of the Year competition once more after 14 years.

The money will go to hiring a venue and production design such as lights and a sound set-up for the annual competition which aims to find Griffith and the region's most promising young performers.

Club president Michael Pfitzner said that the grant was a blessing, and would go a long way towards reducing entry fees - ensuring a classic barrier to entry for young musicians remains open.

"We're pretty pleased to be able to get that. That's primarily going towards our Young Musician of the Year award and the costs associated with putting that out," he said.

"It goes a long way to help us put the event on, and at a level that doesn't raise the cost to enter, so you're not putting up a barrier to entry for the award."

In amongst the Young Musician of the Year award and the annual Muso's Ball, the club is also hoping to run several more social events throughout the year, championing the regions arts and helping musicians network.

"We're looking to see other avenues that we can engage with, either with young musicians or music teachers. See how we can enhance the region's arts and culture space as time goes on," Mr Pfitzner said.

He added a thanks to Griffith City Council for awarding them the grant, particularly considering rising costs and pressure on the budget.

"We're pretty grateful considering budget constraints. They've still enabled the arts to some degree, with grant money going towards putting something on that enhances the local young talent," he said.

"Money is tighter to come by, it's fantastic that we've been able to source the funding for it."