The University of Fiji will join the global celebration of World Jazz Day on 30 April 2026 with a special 24-hour jazz marathon on its campus radio station, Vox Populi, highlighting the unifying power of music and the importance of cultural expression in education.
Fiji’s well-known musicians appearing during the 24 hour event are Laisa Vulakoro, Ken Jensen, Tom Mawi, Eni Kumar and Sailasa Tora, among other jazz artists. The musicians will discuss the importance of jazz music to their own careers.
International Jazz Day was designated by UNESCO in 2011 to recognize jazz as a force for peace, intercultural dialogue and cooperation among people across the world. On 30th April every year, jazz musicians celebrate the role of jazz in promoting mutual understanding, diversity, respect for human rights and freedom of expression.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Shaista Shameem will host the 24-hour marathon event with the University’s Music Director Sailasa Tora and Vox Station Manager, Lawrence Singh, both established artists and music producers in their own right.
“Jazz music arose on the slave plantations, emerging from the musical traditions of enslaved Africans in the American South, fusing African rhythms, work songs, and spirituals with European harmonic structures. Developed as a means of survival and expression under oppression, these forms evolved into blues and ragtime, ultimately merging in New Orleans to create jazz”, she said. “Jazz is more
than music, it is about protest in a way that kept the scrutiny of rebellion under cover, at the same time sending the stark message of painful experiences but also hope and a renaissance”.
Professor Shameem said that UNESCO’s International Jazz Day shows the strong link between the message of jazz music and education. The University felt that this link should encourage all educational institutions in Fiji to use jazz music as a vehicle for positive change in the national interest. Hence the University had invited leading musicians in Fiji to help celebrate the day in honour of jazz musicians past and present and to encourage young musicians to appreciate jazz for its capacity to influence societal transformation for the good of all, she said.
Professor Shameem noted that the University had recently launched its own music album as part of its 21st anniversary celebrations, reaffirming the institution’s commitment to the arts, creativity and cultural development as part of holistic education offered at the University of Fiji. The album was released through Vox Radio and Global Digital platforms.
To mark International Jazz Day, Vox Radio will feature a full 24 hours of jazz programming, starting 8 am Thursday 30th April, alongside live interviews with Professor Shameem, Sailasa Tora and prominent Fiji musicians, showcasing local talent and celebrating the influence of jazz in Fiji.
Listeners can tune in and listen live on:
https://onlineradiobox.com/fj/thevoxpopuliunifijicampus/
