Jessica Dunn

Composer, sound designer
and musician.

About

Listen

Press

Catalogue

Discography

Contact

About

I’m a composer, sound designer, double bassist, electric bassist and musical director based in Sydney.

I recently won the 2020 APRA Award for Best Performance for my work on Bridge of Dreams, an international cross cultural collaboration involving 22 musicians, and was nominated for Best Sound Design at the 2020 Tasmania Theatre Awards for my work on The Mares (Tasmanian Theatre Company/10 Days on the Island). I have a degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and furthered my studies abroad in the US and Middle East. I’ve composed  for theatre, dance and screen, and am passionate about telling stories with music and sound, as well as building long lasting artistic relationships.

I was founding member and Artistic Director of Sirens Big Band for 10 years, championing gender diversity in Australian contemporary music and collaborating with different musicians and composers in Japan, India and the Middle East. I founded the Young Women’s Jazz Orchestra, which provides professional performance opportunities for young instrumentalists, and have been involved in teaching workshops with people of refugee and migrant backgrounds in both Australia and Jordan.

Listen

The Mares
Girl in a School Uniform (Walks Into a Bar)
Two Hearts

Press

“Music also plays a major part in evoking the past (and sometimes driving the drama), and Dunn again proves she is one of Sydney's most astute theatre composers and sound designers."

John Shand, SMH

“The show is incredibly well designed, with…Jessica Dunn’s sound wonderfully precise in manipulating our visceral responses for this gritty journey.”

Suzy Wrong

“Sound Designer Jessica Dunn plays a critical role in creating the uneasy atmosphere during the blackouts, as the audience hyper-fixates on their one remaining sense.”

Jo Bradley

“Goodwin’s production has the requisite thrills thanks to Jessica Dunn’s superbly unsettling sound design, which guides us through the darkness.”

Ben Nuetze, TimeOut

“Jessica Dunn’s soundscape is effective in creating an ambience bubbling with disquiet”

Kate Prendergast, Audrey Journal

“It is impossible to overstate Jessica Dunn’s achievements as musical director.”



Suzy Wrong

“Sirens leader Jessica Dunn proving again what a special bassist she is. Dunn’s 18-piece band executed the sometimes extremely challenging music with panache…”

John Shand, SMH

“While the Sirens' leader, bassist Jessica Dunn, offered one of the work's strongest statements with her solo introduction to the finale.”

 

John Shand ,SMH

Catalogue

Upcoming

McGuffin Park (2024)

Company: Ensemble Theatre
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Mark Kilmurry

The Heartbreak Choir (2024)

Company: Ensemble Theatre
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Anna Ledwich

4000 Miles (2025)

Company: Sydney Theatre Company
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Kenneth Moraleda

Grief is the Thing With Feathers (2025)

Company: Belvoir Street Theatre
Role: Sound Designer
Director: Simon Phillips

2024

Alone it Stands

Company: Ensemble Theatre
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Janine Watson

Dracula

Company: Sydney Theatre Company
Role: Sound Designer
Director: Kip Williams

Colder Than Here

Company: Ensemble Theatre
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Janine Watson

2023

CAMP

Company: Siren Theatre Co / Sydney World Pride
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Kate Gaul

The Lovers

Company: Legs on the Wall / Sydney World Pride
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director / Choreographer: Joshua Thomson

Six the Musical AU NZ Tour

Company: Louise Withers and Associates
Role: Performer (bassist)
Associate Director: Sharon Millerchip

Beetle

Company: Legs on the Wall
Role: Composer
Director: Joshua Thomson

On the Beach

Company: Sydney Theatre Company
Role: Sound Designer
Director: Kip Williams

She

Company: Indelability Arts + The Good Room
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Amy Ingram + Catarina Hebbard

Blaque Showgirls

Company: Griffin Theatre 
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Shari Sebbens and Ursula Yovich

Is There Something Wrong With that Lady?

Company: Ensemble Theatre
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Lee Lewis

Master & Margarita

Company: Belvoir Street Theatre
Role: Associate Sound Designer to Stefan Gregory
Director: Eamon Flack

2022

A is for Apple

Company: Griffin Theatre Company
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Scarlet McGlynn

Six the Musical AU NZ Tour

Company: Louise Withers and Associates
Role: Performer (bassist)
Associate Director: Sharon Millerchip

Chalkface

Company: Sydney Theatre Company & State Theatre Company South Australia
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Jessica Arthur

Photograph 51

Company: Ensemble Theatre
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Anna Ledwich

The Tempest

Company: Sydney Theatre Company
Role: Sound Programmer
Director: Kip Williams

Bridge of Dreams

Company: Sirens Big Band & OzAsia Festival
Role: Performer / Co-Musical Director / Co-Music Producer
Director: N/A

Summer Camp Music Festival

Company: Summer Camp
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: N/A

2021

Is There Something Wrong With that Lady?

Company: Griffin Theatre Company
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Lee Lewis

Julius Caesar

Company: Sydney Theatre Company
Role: Sound Programmer
Associate Director: Kip Williams

Trestle

Company: Legs on the Wall Company South Australia
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director / Choreographer: Joshua Thomson

2020

TRESTLE (development)

Company: Legs on the Wall
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director / Choreographer: Joshua Thomson

SIX The Musical

Company: Louise Withers and Associates
Role: Performer (bassist)
Director: Grace Taylor

2021 Mardi Gras Float

Company: L’oreal Australia
Role: Sound Designer / Music Producer
Director: Jeremy Santos

Wonnangatta

Company: Sydney Theatre Company
Role: Sound and Composition Associate
Director: Jessica Arthur

2019

Counting and Cracking

Company: Belvoir Street Theatre
Role: Associate Sound Designer
Director: Eamon Flack

Barbara and the Camp Dogs (tour)

Company: Belvoir Street Theatre
Role: Performing Musical Director
Director: Leticia Cáceres

The Mares

Company: Tasmanian Theatre Company / 10 Days
on the Island
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Leticia Cáceres

Bridge of Dreams

Company: Sirens Big Band / Sydney Festival
Role: Performer / Co-Musical Director / Co-Music Producer
Director: N/A

Girl in A School Uniform (walks into
a bar)

Company: KXT Bakehouse
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Hannah Goodwin

2018

Harp in the South

Company: Sydney Theatre Company
Role: Associate Sound Designer
Director: Kip Williams

Random

Company: Belvoir Street Theatre
Role: Associate Sound Designer
Director: Leticia Cáceres

Two Hearts

Company: TKXT Bakehouse
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Jessica Arthur

Buried

Company: Old 505 Theatre
Role: Composer / Sound Designer
Director: Johann Walraven

2017

Barbara and the Camp Dogs

Company: Belvoir Street Theatre
Role: Performing Musical Director
Director: Leticia Cáceres

Discography

Bridge of Dreams

Sirens Big Band

[a]part

Sirens Big Band

Contact

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