Katie Noonan

Katie Noonan's technical mastery and pure voice make her one of Australia's most versatile and beloved vocalists. A mother, singer, producer, songwriter, pianist and business woman, this 5 x ARIA Award winning and 6 x platinum selling songstress first received widespread praise as the angel-voiced songstress of indie-pop band george and has since taken audiences on sublime excursions through jazz, pop and classical music. Her various releases include her folk trio’s self titled album ‘elixir’, the No. 1 selling classical album ‘Two of a Kind’ with her mother Maggie and her gold-selling top ten solo album ‘Skin’. She has also worked with the country’s top orchestra’s including her recent fruitful collaboration with Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Noonan's affinity with jazz shone through on the ARIA award winning album, ‘Before Time Could Change Us’. Recorded with revered pianist Paul Grabowsky, it captured the breathtaking beauty and emotion that characterises her work. In Noonan's 2009 ARIA winning release ‘Blackbird’, she collaborated with an historic ensemble of iconic jazz players including Joe Lovano, Ron Carter, Lewis Nash and John Scofield.

With her band The Captains (Cameron Deyell, Stu Hunter and Declan Kelly) Katie’s 2010 release ‘Emperor’s Box’ saw the songstress sail towards a beloved lush and organic band sound, with her trademark strong and inspired personal stories.

For this album, Katie co wrote with a host of Anzac luminaries including Tim Finn, Don Walker, Sia Furler, Josh Pyke, Tom Shapcott and her fellow ‘Captains’ band mates. Co -produced by Katie and Grammy award winning producer Nick Didia this album was widely acclaimed, with Rolling Stone Magazine’s 4 star review saying “it is a joy to hear Noonan return to the more traditional pop of Emperor’s Box, albeit with a sumptuous and skewed take on the art form that combines the experimental beauty of Sigur Ros and Radiohead with the dark, dreamy atmospherics of 27”

Katie’s sublime folk/jazz trio of 14 years Elixir have just released their long awaited 2nd album 'First Seed Ripening'. Reflective, brooding and ravishingly beautiful, Elixir features Katie’s saxophonist husband Zac Hurren (winner of the National Jazz Award 2009) and Steven Magnusson, regarded by many as Australia's finest jazz guitarist (Paul Grabowsky, Paul Kelly, Vince Jones). 'First Seed Ripening' is largely inspired by the words of legendary Australian poet Thomas Shapcott and debuted at Number 1 on the ARIA Jazz Charts. Elixir recently won the ARIA for 'Best Jazz Album 2011'

Katie is never content to rest in her comfort zone and in 2011 alone she has collaborated with a wonderfully diverse range of artists – including The Sydney Dance Company for the World Premiere of ‘LANDFORMS’, Australian composer Elana Kats-Cherin for the World Premiere of ‘The Little Green Road to Fairyland’ for the Queensland Music Festival and Internationally acclaimed classical guitarist Karin Schaupp in a 20 date sold out Australian tour.

‘The vocal melodies are complex and leisurely and, as you'd expect, delivered with crystal-clear beauty by the virtuosic Katie. The album's 14 songs have a seductive pull, helped along by a Nick Drake-level tranquility and, naturally, our heroine's effortless vocal style’
RAVE MAGAZINE

‘It’s clearly a record filled with enchantment and it’s going to weave its spell on you, too. Noonan’s voice, bare and beautiful against husband Zac Hurren’s intimate soprano sax and Stephen Magnusson’s expert jazz guitar, shines like a midnight star’
SUNDAY HERALD SUN

‘Inspired by the poetry of Thomas Shapcott, the return of Katie Noonan, sax-playing hubby Zac Hurren and guitarist Stephen Magnusson is a moving, magnificent album’
GOLD COAST BULLETIN

Heralded as one of the greatest all time Australian talents, Katie Noonan is an absolute must see.
WEEKENDNOTES.COM

‘Noonan’s classical-style soprano and astonishing ability to leap effortlessly over octaves graces this album.Although the mood is serenely ethereal and the arrangements are gossamer-like, when Magnusson or Hurren solo, their playing has a jazz infused quality. The opening track, First Seed Ripening, uses the string quartet delicately during a middle passage following the solo guitar moving lusciously behind Noonan’s wide ranging, fragile vocal, and Hurren contributes a melodic unearthliness on soprano sax.’
THE AUSTRALIAN

‘This woman is the whole package. She is not only one of the most versatile singers in the industry, easing her way through rock and jazz and even scaling the heights of opera, but she has the amazing ability to completely rearrange a song yet keep the emotional substance of it.’
WWW.JONIMTCHELL.COM

‘[Emperor’s Box] is unique in the qualities that make it a pertinent listen regardless of genre, place and time’
TIME OFF

‘With a voice that could level suburbs, and the technique to match, Noonan has somehow managed to avoid serious chart success by writing music too smart for the average FM listeners ears… realistically – Katie can do anything. She’s the bolt blocking the carbon copy machine from pumping out more clones”’
BRAG MAGAZINE

‘You know her as the singer from the awesomely named band George, but since the band’s hiatus in 2004, Katie Noonan has yet to really find her feet as a solo artist – that is until now, as Emperor’s Box highlights just how amazingly talented Katie Noonan really is.’
XPRESS MAGAZINE

‘A treasure well worth discovering’
MARIE CLAIRE

‘The undoubted highlight of the evening was vocalist Katie Noonan. Here is a rare talent with a voice of extraordinary beauty and versatility.’
THE AUSTRALIAN