ANJO Youth co-artistic director

Combining cinematic sweep, transportive emotion, and rich melodic grandeur, Australian-born trumpeter/composer Nadje Noordhuis possesses one of the most unforgettably lyrical voices in modern music. Her deeply-felt, clarion tone and evocative compositional gift meld classical rigor, jazz expression, and world music accents into a sound that is distinctively her own. Noordhuis was one of ten semi-finalists in the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition and was selected as a Carnegie Hall Young Artist to undertake a weeklong residency with trumpet great Dave Douglas in 2010. Recent engagements include a yearly week-long run at New York's Village Vanguard with Rudy Royston's 303, performances with the Grammy-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, performances at jazz festivals in Europe, Canada and Brazil with Grammy-nominated Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, and regular appearances with her group at the historic 55 Bar in Greenwich Village.

ANJO Artistic Director

Educator, Saxophonist, Festival Director, Bandleader, Conductor, Composer and Jazz protagonist, David Theak has enjoyed an exciting and dynamic career at the core of the Australian jazz scene since the mid 1990’s. Motivated, inspired, dedicated and diligent, David cares deeply about music, the music scene and his musical peers. David’s relentless work ethic and commitment to excellence have made him a valuable addition to a variety of educational, musical and non-cultural scenarios.

As Artistic Director of Australia’s most internationally recognised jazz orchestra, The Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, David collaborated, performed and recorded with a who’s who of international and domestic artists including but not limited to:- Maria Schneider, Chris Potter, Darcy James Argue, Jim McNeely, Alex Sipiagin, Bob Sheppard, Mike Nock, Bert Joris, Florian Ross, Ed Partyka, Charles Tolliver, John Hollenbeck, Theo Bleckmann, Dave Lisik, Will Vinson/Steve Newcomb, Kristin Berardi, Dave Panichi, Sean Wayland, Jef Neve, and Quinsin Nachoff.

In 2017, David formed the Australian National Jazz Orchestra and is currently Program Leader of the Jazz Studies Course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Artistic Director of the Sydney Conservatorium International Jazz Festival.

David is a D’Addario woodwind artist

ANJO Youth co-artistic director

Mace Francis is a passionate advocate of original Australian large ensemble jazz music, forming his own 14-piece ensemble in 2005 – the Mace Francis Orchestra (MFO). MFO have recorded 6 CDs, toured nationally four times and performed with international artists Jim Pugh (USA), Jon Gordon (NY), John Hollenbeck (NY), Satoko Fujii (JAP), Ed Partyka (GER) and Theo Bleckmann (NY). For his compositions Mace has been awarded an APRA Professional Development Award, the Italian international composition prize, "Scrivere in Jazz", was a finalist in the 2010 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, nominated for an Australian Bell Award (2013 & 2016) and was the 2015 winner of the APRA Jazz Work of the Year. Mace has worked as guest composer and conductor with l’Orcehstre des Jeunes Jazzmen de Bourgogne (France), the Graz Composers Ensemble (Austria) and the Showa University of Music Big Band (Japan). Mace currently works as the artistic director of the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra and has recently completed a PhD exploring site-specific composition of which he received the 2015 Faculty Research Medal.

ANJO Auditions Co-ordinator

Since graduating from the Elder Conservatorium, Thomas Voss has quickly established himself as one of Adelaide’s most versatile trombonists, composer/arrangers and educators. As well as leading his own big band and a number of small group projects, he has performed with artists including Vanessa Perica, Vince Jones and Kate Ceberano, and has played at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Perth International Jazz Festival, Sydney Conservatorium International Jazz Festival and the Adelaide Festival Centre’s 2019 International Jazz Day concert.

Thomas was nominated for the 2022 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, was shortlisted for a South Australian Music Award in 2019, and placed first in the International Trombone Association’s 2017 Carl Fontana Jazz Competition, making him the first Australian to win the award.

An in-demand composer/arranger, Thomas was Creative Original Music Adelaide’s 2023 Featured Composer, Composer-in-Residence for the West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2022, JazzSA Superbands’ Composer-in-Residence in 2019, and has also served as Program Coordinator for JazzSA since 2021. Thomas has penned test pieces for the ABODA SA and Generations in Jazz band festivals, where he has also featured as an adjudicator and guest artist.