UNESCO International Jazz Day

Zela Margossian Quintet is an ARIA nominated ethno-jazz band based in Sydney, performing original works and arrangements carrying influences from Armenian traditional music.

Comprised of talented and multi-cultural musicians from Sydney, Zela Margossian Quintet creates an exotic musical atmosphere that is sure to take you on an emotive and pleasurable journey.

Zela Margossian Quintet has participated in different festivals in Sydney such as the International Women’s Jazz Festival in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, Sydney Improvised Music Association’s various jazz programs, a debut performance for Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues in 2020, a debut performance at the prestigious Sydney Opera House in December 2020 and a performance at Sydney Town Hall for Sydney Festival in January 2021. A special performance to note is ZMQ’s participation in the Beirut International Jazz Day celeberation in Lebanon in April 2018 and at The Barbican for EFG London Jazz Festival in 2023.

Transition, the band’s debut album was released digitally by the Australian record label, Art As Catharsis, on the 30th of November, 2018.

To promote their debut album, the quintet had performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Auckland and Wellington and the album received positive reviews from different sources such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, DownBeat and JazzWise magazines to name a few.

In October 2019, ZMQ’s debut album Transition, received an ARIA nomination for Best World Music Album category.

In 2021, ZMQ signed a record deal with the American Jazz Label, Ropeadope. The album was released internationally on the 25th of February 2022 with an album launch event on the same day in Sydney. The album had positive reception from audiences worldwide as well as positive reviews from different sources around the world.

In October 2023, Zela Margossian Quintet had their debut performances at the Wellington Jazz Festival in New Zealand and at Perth International Jazz Festival in November. A highlight in 2023 was a performance for EFG London Jazz Festival (an initiative by Melbourne Jazz Festival “MIJF Presents'‘) at The Barbican in London as Zela Margossian Trio on the 11th of November.

Currently, ZMQ is working on recording the third album, set to be released on Ropeadope end of 2025.

Ciara Louise Ferguson is a pianist, composer, singer and teacher living on Kaurna land in Adelaide, South Australia.

She recently recorded albums with her own quartet (River Walks, which has been featured on ABC Jazz’s ‘The Dinner Set’ with Monica Trapaga, who described it as “beautiful… a stunning album”), Soylent Green (with whom she performed at Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues in 2022), and the ABC Jazz Commission 'Where Emus Roam the Streets'. Ciara works in varying genres including jazz, classical, music theatre, cabaret and pop, and has been a backing vocalist, pianist, and/or vibraphonist for artists including Tina Arena, Lior, Eddie Perfect, Paul Grabowsky, Joe Chindamo, Thando and Wendy Matthews.

In 2024, she performed as a vocalist and vibraphonist with the Australian String Quartet at their Barossa Weekend of Music; presented sets of her original music at the Adelaide Jazz Festival and PianoLab; and was a backing vocalist for AURUS at WOMAdelaide. Ciara is the 2024 Creative Original Music Adelaide’s (COMA) Emerging Jazz Writer’s Award recipient. She graduated with First Class Honours in Jazz Performance (Piano) from the University of Adelaide in 2021, where she also won the 2019 Helpmann Academy award for Top Piano Undergraduate.