Katie Noonan has the kind of voice grown men weep for, the kind of voice that seems to come directly from her heart rather than her lungs. She has topped both the pop and jazz charts, blown away opera fanatics, performed alongside countless luminaries of myriad fields, and backs it all up by being an incredible songwriter, producer and keyboardist in her own right.
As co-lead singer of critically acclaimed Brisbane band george, Katie has also enjoyed success with her accomplished jazz trio Elixir, and performed to sell out crowds in front of the Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony, West Australian Symphony and Queensland Orchestras. She has gracefully accompanied Oscar winning composer Howard Shore, Australian jazz alumni Paul Grabowsky, and even her renowned soprano mother, Maggie Noonan, with their opera/jazz project, Two of a Kind.
Katie's released a jazz gem with Paul Grabowsky called "Before Time Could Change Us" that leapt straight into the top of the jazz charts and scored Katie her second ARIA award. Her Two of a Kind project with mother Maggie was also one of the highest selling classical releases of 2004.
Skin was released in 2007 and features new song "Time To Begin".
Since then, Katie has performed by invitation for members of the Danish and British Royal families, and His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama. She was an inaugural recipient of the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in 2011 and in 2018, Katie took on the Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing ceremonies as Music Director, performing to more than a billion viewers worldwide.
Katie is a rare songwriter; equally at home leading a symphony orchestra as she is performing in a small jazz club, she has the ability to flourish in any genre – whether that’s in gentle folk storytelling or in the grandiosity of an operatic performance. Her curiosity and passion often leads her to transcend the medium of music – Katie has collaborated on multi-disciplinary works from ballet and contemporary dance to live art and circus.
Katie’s unwavering perseverance in aiding the development of Australia’s diverse musical landscapes has inevitably created a healthier artistic domain for future generations to come. An unrelenting advocate for the arts, the APRA ambassador is constantly championing it’s vitality and growth across our rural towns and ever-changing cities, helping the Queensland Music Festival continue its legacy of integrating community projects in over 100 regions across the state. In 2020 Katie was awarded the prestigious APRA AMCOS State Arts Luminary Award for her commitment to furthering the future of Queensland musicians, was voted in the Top 50 Jazz Artists of all time by ABC Classic voters and was the only Australian woman in the ARIA Top Ten Jazz & Blues albums of 2020. Katie was also recently appointed as the Artistic Director of the National Folk Festival in Canberra.
In the midst of running her production company KIN Music and working as an Artistic Director, Katie remains committed to what sets her artistry apart from the pack: her ability to evolve. “There’s always going to be something to learn or someone who can teach you something,” she explains. Music, for Katie, is a lifelong lesson, a generous act of giving, and a means to change the world.
