Liam Burrows is an Australian musician and singer. He first came to prominence in 2011 when he reached the Grand Final of the fifth season of Australia's Got Talent in which he was awarded the fifth place in the overall competition in which 19,000 participants had originally entered. His independently released debut album, All of Me, came out in 2011.

Liam Burrows
Burrows in 2013
Born (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 (age 30)
EducationChatswood High School, Sydney. National Institute of Dramatic Art (Open Program). Australian Institute of Music (BA Mus.).
Occupations
  • Singer
  • Musician
Years active2008 – Present
AwardsSee Major awards and nominations
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano, trumpet
LabelsSkylark Records
Websitewww.liamburrows.net

Early life and education

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Liam Burrows was born and raised in The Central Coast of New South Wales and comes from a musical family. Burrows' father Steve is ex-Australian Navy. His mother, Gemma is a high school music teacher. He has one younger sister – Ailish. He played classical piano from the age of six, classical and jazz trumpet from the age of nine and sang at school events from the first year of high school. When Burrows was 12, his singing teacher, jazz musician Dorian Mode, introduced him to the Great American Songbook. This ignited Burrow's passion for jazz. As a teen he performed with the Chatswood High School Stage Band at the Montreux Jazz Festival and has cited the school's music program as a major influence.[2]

In 2014 Burrows completed the Musical Theatre Open Program at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). He is currently[when?] completing a Bachelor of Music Degree, majoring in Contemporary Performance.

Career

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Burrows has headlined at major jazz festivals around Australia including those at Manly, Noosa, Broadbeach, Adelaide Hills and Norfolk Island and also at major venues including the Crown Casino Melbourne, Jupiters Casino Townsville and Jupiters Casino Broadbeach.

Burrows' appearances on national television in Australia include Channel 7's The Morning Show, Channel Ten's The Circle the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Telethon and the Channel 7 Perth Telethon. He also performed as the opening act for the Pointer Sisters during their national tour of Australia.[3][4]

In 2011 he recorded his debut album with The Swing City Big Band. All of Me is a selection of classic hit songs including many from the Great American Songbook.

Burrows recently completed a number of recordings of original works including tracks written by multi-award-winning songwriter Graeham Goble of Little River Band fame.

He has performed (2014) in Hong Kong for the British Chamber of Commerce and Hong Kong Polo After Dark and as of March 2015 has performed his first shows on a cruise ship.

In November 2015 Liam appeared for the first time in New Zealand, when he appeared in a Sinatra Centenary Concert in Auckland, backed by a 24 piece orchestra.

Recognition

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At age 14 Burrows won the Open Age Jazz Vocal Division of The Sydney Eisteddfod and was awarded The Central Coast Jazz League Scholarship for Most Promising Young Artist. In 2010 Burrows became the youngest-ever vocalist selected to perform at Generations in Jazz. In the same year he was nominated for an Australian entertainment industry Mo Award for Best new Talent and later in the year was featured at the Newcastle Jazz Festival as an Outstanding Young Talent.

In 2011 Burrows was once again selected by James Morrison to perform at Generations in Jazz. At the age of 17 Burrows competed in the fifth season of Australia's Got Talent. During the show he cited Michael Bublé and Frank Sinatra as major role models and influences.[5]

In 2012 Burrows competed in the Unsigned Only Music Competition, a talent search to locate artists who are not yet signed to record labels. Burrows came second in the Vocal Performance category. That same year, he was named Best Jazz Artist at the Australian Music Industry’s Musicoz Awards.[6]

In 2013 Burrows won a Mo Award: The Johnny O'Keefe Award. In the same year he again competed in the International Unsigned Only competition with 10,000 entrants, gaining an Honorable Mention. In that same year he was also a finalist in the Jazz Category of the MusicOz Awards.[7]

In 2014 Burrows again competed in the Unsigned Only Music Competition. He won Second Place in the Vocal Performance category for his rendition of "Skylark" and also received an Honourable Mention for his performance of "Never Fallen In Love So Easily Before."

In 2015, James Morrison presented Burrows with the Generations in Jazz Vocal Scholarship.

In 2015 Burrows again won Second Place in the Unsigned-Only Music Competition. He also received two Honourable Mentions.

In 2015 Liam was also one of only 11 semi-finalists in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition which took place in Los Angeles. The vocal competition takes place every 5 years and attracts hundreds of entries from all over the world. Liam was the only semi-finalist from the southern hemisphere.

Major awards and nominations

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Year Type Award Result
2015 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz 2015 Vocals Competition Semi-Finalist[8]
2015 International Unsigned-Only Competition Vocal Performance Category Second Place[8]
2015 International Unsigned-Only Competition Vocal Performance Category Honourable Mention[8]
2015 International Unsigned-Only Competition Vocal Performance Category Honourable Mention[8]
2015 Generations in Jazz Vocal Scholarship Winner[8]
2014 International Unsigned Only Competition Vocal Performance Category Second Place[8]
2014 International Unsigned Only Competition Vocal Performance Category Honorable Mention[8]
2013 MusicOz Awards Jazz Category Finalist[8]
2013 International Unsigned Only Competition Vocal Performance Category Honorable Mention[8]
2013 Mo Awards Johnny O'Keefe Encouragement Award Winner
2012 MusicOz Awards Best Jazz Artist – Jazz Category Winner[8]
2012 International Unsigned Only Competition Vocal Performance Category Second place
2011 Australia's Got Talent Grand Finalist 5th place[8]
2010 Generations in Jazz Vocal Scholarship Finalist[8]
2010 Mo Awards Best New Talent Winner[8]
2008 Sydney Eisteddfod Best Jazz Vocalist Winner[8]

Charitable affiliations

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Burrows is a Youth Ambassador for the following organisations:

  • Angels Hope – Australian Anti-Bullying Organisation[9]
  • Australian Children’s Music Foundation[10]
  • Saves Our Sons

Discography

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Albums

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Title Details
All of Me
  • Released: 2011
  • Label: Skylark

References

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  1. ^ "Newsphotos". Newsphotos. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  2. ^ Edwards, Amy (20 June 2011). "Liam Burrows named next Michael Buble on Australia's Got Talent | Newcastle Herald". Theherald.com.au. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  3. ^ "SEVEN Reveals Good Friday Appeal Line-Up @ Good friday appeal". Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  4. ^ Hazel, Andy (8 November 2011). "Interviews/Reviews: Live Review: THE POINTER SISTERS, LIAM BURROWS". Interviewsandgigreviews.blogspot.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Australia's Got Talent has a new wannabe Bieber in 17-year old Liam Burrows". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Browse Songs". Musicoz.org. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Browse Songs". Musicoz.org. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Liam Burrows : CV" (PDF). Musicoz.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Angels Hope". Angels Hope. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  10. ^ "Acmf Patron and Ambassadors". Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.