2024 Guest Artist
Remy Le Boeuf
Remy Le Boeuf is a 4x Grammy-nominated composer and saxophonist whose music is rooted in the jazz tradition and overlaps into contemporary classical and indie-rock realms. Le Boeuf is also the founder and director of the jazz orchestra, Assembly of Shadows, as well as the Chief Conductor of the Nordkraft Big Band in Denmark.
He has worked with a range of collaborators including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Linda Oh, HAIM, JACK Quartet, Dayna Stephens, Prefuse 73, and his identical twin brother Pascal, with whom he co-leads the experimental jazz quintet, Le Boeuf Brothers.
With his debut jazz orchestra release, Assembly of Shadows (2019), Le Boeuf established himself as a unique voice with a penchant for cinematic majesty and melody-driven themes. Hailed by the New York Times for his music’s “overwhelming beauty,” he quickly earned two Grammy nominations for Best Instrumental Composition & Best Arrangement the following year. In 2021, he released a complementary sequel, Architecture of Storms (2021), showcasing his acrobatic saxophone playing while exploring the diversity of his emotions and influences. His sophomore album garnered two additional Grammy nominations for Best LargeJazz Ensemble Album and Best Arrangement, Instrumental or a Capella.
Le Boeuf's list of honors include commissions from Chamber Music America, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, as well as 7 ASCAP Young Composer Awards, the BMI Foundation's Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, the Sammy Nestico Award, and the Copland House Residency Award. He has received additional awards from the American Composers Forum, Jerome Foundation, Copland Fund, YoungArts, Cafe Royal Cultural Foundation, New York Youth Symphony, International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers, and Society of Composers.
Le Boeuf is the Director of Jazz and Commercial Music Studies and an Assistant Professor at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.
“RADIANT, UNCLUTTERED BEAUTY” - The San Francisco Chronicle
“OVERWHELMING BEAUTY” - The New York Times
2022 Guest Artist
Vanessa Perica
Vanessa Perica is a composer, arranger, conductor based in Melbourne. 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.
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 as high as 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, the ‘Love is a Temporary Madness’ Symphonic Suite was premiered by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Vanessa Perica Orchestra at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
Vanessa was a winner in the 2021 APRA Art Music Awards for her composition ‘Spaccanapoli’, and is a finalist in the upcoming Australian Women in Music Awards.
In November 2021, 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, Eddie Perfect and more, they performed compositions and arrangements by Vanessa and Chris Crenshaw (Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York).
“...there's "a new sheriff in town," she's packing heat, and you'd best listen carefully to what she has to say.” 4.5 stars - Jack Bowers, All About Jazz
2021 Guest Artist
Will Vinson
Originally from London, Alto Saxophonist and Composer Will Vinson moved to New York City in 1999 and has since cemented his international reputation as a leader and sideman.
During his time in NYC, he appeared and/or recorded with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ari Hoenig, Marcus Gilmore, Chris Potter, Kurt Elling, Lage Lund, Aaron Parks, and many others. Will is a member of a number of leading ensembles, including pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s Quartet, Ari Hoenig’s Punk Bop and Nonet, Miguel Zenon’s Identities Orchestra, and his own groups featuring, among others, Lage Lund, Jeff Ballard, Aaron Parks, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Shai Maestro and Mike Moreno. In 2012, along with bassist Orlando le Fleming and guitarist Lage Lund, he formed the critically acclaimed OWL Trio, whose eponymous debut in 2013 was hailed by critics and listeners alike.
Will’s saxophone playing is executed with incredible power and dramatic sensitivity, and is characterised by his imposing sound and technique; influenced by saxophonists from Cannonball to Chris Potter, he nevertheless brings his own unique approach to every performance. Will's writing, and the playing of his colleagues, combines a great respect for the century-long jazz tradition with explorations into the rhythmic, harmonic and melodic realms of contemporary forms.