ABOUT
“…there's "a new sheriff in town," she's packing heat, and you'd best listen carefully to what she has to say.” - Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
Vanessa Perica is a composer and conductor based in Melbourne, Australia.
Upon completion of her Bachelor degree in 2003 at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, she was awarded the prestigious Bob Wyllie Scholarship for ‘Most Outstanding Graduating Jazz Student.’ Other recipients of this honour include Linda May Han Oh, Mat Jodrell, Ben Vanderwal and Troy Roberts.
Recent career highlights include both national and international recognition. She was a finalist in both the Anonimus Big Band (2018) and ‘Scrivere in Jazz’ International Composition Competitions (2020). She has also appeared at the Sydney, Melbourne and Perth International Jazz Festivals, and performed with the Bergen Big Band in Norway.
In 2019, Vanessa was a recipient of an Australia Council grant to record her debut album with an all-star lineup including Andrea Keller, Julien Wilson, Sam Anning, Mat Jodrell, Ben Vanderwal, Jordan Murray, Carl Mackey, Paul Williamson and Jamie Oehlers. Released in February 2020, the album titled ‘Love is a Temporary Madness’ has been critically acclaimed, reaching number 1 on the AIR Independent charts, and number 3 on the ARIA Jazz & Blues charts.
The album was a nominee in the Australian Music Prize and AIR Awards, and won ‘Best Jazz Album’ at the 2020 Music Victoria Awards.
In February 2021, Vanessa was commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to write the ‘Love is a Temporary Madness’ Symphonic Suite. This was premiered by the MSO and Vanessa Perica Orchestra, and conducted by Benjamin Northey at the iconic Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
In November of the same year, the Vanessa Perica Orchestra joined forces once again with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s Opening Night Gala at Hamer Hall. Featuring vocalists Kate Ceberano, Michelle Nicolle, Thando, Eddie Perfect and more, they performed compositions and arrangements by Vanessa and Chris Crenshaw (Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York).
Most recently, Vanessa was a winner in the 2021 APRA Art Music Awards and Australian Jazz Bell Awards, and was a finalist in the 2022 Australian Women in Music Awards. Her composition was also a 2022 APRA Art Music Awards finalist for ‘Jazz Performance of the Year’ for her orchestra’s collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
The Society of Composers Inc. also named Vanessa the winner of the 2022 and 2023 Jazz Composition Award with her compositions ‘Woody’s Lament’ and ‘The Eye is the First Circle.’
Most recently she was named the Winner of the 2024 APRA Professional Development Award for Jazz/Improvised music.
She is the conductor for the Australia/New Zealand Ministry of Sound Classical tour.
Vanessa Perica is a Yamaha artist.
“I’ll give that 1,226 stars” - Jim McNeely, DownBeat Magazine Dec 2022
“…her record just blew me away. It’s really incredible.” - Ryan Truesdell (GRAMMY®-winning Producer and Composer), DownBeat Magazine Dec 2022
“I just think it’s one of the most astonishing things I’ve ever heard. It is big band orchestral writing of the highest quality. Would stand up anywhere in the world.“ - Benjamin Northey, Principal Conductor in Residence, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
"Perica's new album exceeds expectations, once more signalling her exceptional talent." - Des Cowley, Rhythms Magazine on The Eye is the First Circle
“Vanessa Perica is a dynamic compositional voice who rewards the mind, soul and ears of the listener in equal measure - her writing deftly nestling innovation among tradition, revealing original musical moments around every corner.” - Matt Hoy, former Creative Artistic Lead, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
“Vanessa Perica deserves all the congratulations and adulation that she will receive when the jazz world hears the contents of this album.” - Loudmouth Magazine on ‘The Eye is the First Circle’
Named in The Guardian’s ‘Best Australian Albums of 2020’.
“Love is a Temporary Madness signals the arrival of a major new voice in the world of large ensemble jazz. Writing for her namesake orchestra—a big band stacked with some of Australia's top musicians—Vanessa Perica makes some serious waves. If jazz bias and press didn't so clearly favor North America, it's likely that this lauded debut would've drawn even more plaudits.” - Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
“…She is a big talent — still under-the-radar, but probably not for much longer.” - Ted Gioia, author in publications such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal.
“Perica’s masterful writing and arranging skills were on neon-lit display in this orchestral setting, which amplified the narrative scope and textural richness of her multi-layered compositions.” - The Age
“…an incredible album”…”A mighty achievement, and a milestone in Australian music.” - Julien Wilson, APRA Art Award & multi Bell Award winning saxophonist on ‘Love is a Temporary Madness’.
“Killer record!!”…”a jazz orchestra for the ages.” - ABC Jazz
“Perica’s compositions warrant comparison with the work of contemporary American composer Maria Schneider…” - Des Cowley, Rhythms Magazine
“…one of the best & one of the most popular jazz albums of the year…” - Bernard Zuel, Music Journalist
4.5 stars “…an ambitious album of great depth…” - Eric Myers, The Australian
“…Vanessa has forged a musical path which has culminated in this glorious album, on which she assembled her dream line up to create a sophisticated and sumptuous jazz recording.” - Fine Music Sydney 102.5FM
“But the marquee acts of Frisell and quadruple Grammy Award winner Billy Childs and his quartet were only a glamorous part of a fine day of top-notch jazz from mainly Australian musicians, including some of tomorrow’s stars in the Sydney Con Jazz Orchestra – one of the highlights in an amazingly tight and vibrant set of works by Melbourne composer Vanessa Perica who directed them…” - Daily Telegraph
...”she writes without fear...or sympathy” - Graeme Lyall AM, composer, saxophonist. Bell Award Hall of Fame inductee, 2015
“Vanessa writes the kind of big band music you both want to play and listen to...fiery and interactive, with melodies that stick with you for days.” - Jamie Oehlers, winner World Saxophone Competition 2003, Coordinator of Jazz Studies WAAPA.
Image by Pia Johnson