Vlad Khusid Fellowship Concert

On Monday 5 May, we proudly launched the 2025 Vlad Khusid Fellowship, with a concert featuring the renowned Gordon Goodwin’s Little Phat Band.

This exciting initiative was originally proposed by Old Sydneian Jason Gellert (OS 1996) to honour the late Mr Vladimir Khusid by bringing world-class jazz musicians to Sydney Grammar School each year. The fellowship has generous financial support from both the Gellert family and the School.

Mr Gordon Goodwin, Mr Wayne Bergeron, Mr Andy Martin, Mr Brian Scanlon and Ms Vangie Gunn are Grammy-Award-winning jazz musicians, and are all first-call studio players from Los Angeles. Knowingly or not, we have all heard them on countless motion picture soundtracks, television shows, and chart-topping albums across multiple genres.

During their time at Grammar, each musician presented a separate masterclass to the instrumentalists in our College Street Jazz programme, beginning at 9am on Monday with the world’s most recorded commercial trumpet player, Wayne Bergeron, working with our trumpet pupils.

Pictured: Grammar’s Big Bands featured in Act I

The concert that evening was attended not only by our Grammar community, but also by many of Sydney’s professional musicians and the wider public. Act I featured College Street’s three Big Bands. In Act II, our guest artists delivered a standout set, before our Jazz Orchestra brought the evening to a close by performing Gordon Goodwin’s Grammy-nominated “Hunting Wabbits” with Gordon, Wayne, Brian, and Andy performing with the band.

We were fortunate to have Gordon Goodwin, Wayne Bergeron, and Vangie Gunn for an additional three days following the concert. During this time, they led a public masterclass with our Big Band for Old Boys and Dr V’s Swing Thing, and also performed alongside the Australian National Jazz Orchestra Youth Big Band at Foundry 616.

Planning is already underway for the 2026 and 2027 Khusid Fellowships. Stay tuned for announcements on this exciting addition to the Grammar music calendar!

Pictured: The Little Phat Band in action

Gordon Goodwin

Gordon Goodwin is a Grammy and Emmy-Award-winning composer, arranger, keyboardist and woodwind player. He has built a larger-than-life reputation throughout the music industry and has worked with stars including Ray Charles, Christina Aguilera, Johnny Mathis, Toni Braxton, John Williams and Quincy Jones. Goodwin has also conducted world-renowned symphony orchestras and has scored and orchestrated several major films.

Wayne Bergeron

Trumpet player Wayne Bergeron is one of the most sought-after musicians in the world. Studio sessions, film dates, international touring, jazz concerts, guest appearances and clinics keep him busy not only in his hometown of Los Angeles but worldwide. He has recorded and played with some of America’s most respected performers.

Brian Scanlon

Brian Scanlon has been an active member of the Los Angeles music scene since 1987, as a saxophonist and woodwind doubler. His career highlights include touring with song and dance man Ben Vereen and regular appearances on The Tonight Show as a member of the NBC Orchestra. Scanlon can be heard on several film soundtrack recordings.

Andy Martin

Trombonist Andy Martin’s technique and virtuosity quickly established him on the Los Angeles music scene and as an educator he has influenced countless young players. He is a world-class jazz musician who has collaborated with other top jazz artists and is well known for his work as a lead player and featured soloist with virtually every big band in Los Angeles.

Vangie Gunn

Vangie Gunn is a sought-after session singer in Southern California and has sung on hundreds of projects for film and television. She has been a commercial music voice teacher at several universities in Southern California over the past twenty years and has directed various choirs, small groups and a cappella groups.