Katie Anne Noonan
Early life
Noonan grew up with a strong background in classical music, with her mother Maggie being a well-known opera singer. She studied opera and jazz at the Queensland Conservatorium.
Career
George
After graduation, Noonan began fronting the pop-rock group George, along with her brother
Tyrone Noonan. Noonan founded George with her brother, with whom she shared lead vocals, in 1996 to enter a university music competition. After a series of successful independently released
Extended play, they signed to Festival Mushroom Records and released the debut album
Polyserena in 2002. It debuted at the number 1 position on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) albums chart.
George won the Breakthrough Artist ARIA award in 2002 and performed the song "Breathe in Now" at the award ceremony.
Elixir
Noonan founded the jazz trio Elixir in 1997, which released their debut self-titled album in 2003. Elixir's second album,
First Seed Ripening, was released on 5 August 2011.
It won the 2011 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album.
2004: Two of a Kind
Noonan released an album of jazz and operatic duets with her mother in 2004. Entitled
Two of a Kind, the album was released by the
ABC Classics label.
In 2004, Noonan guest appeared at the Lord Of The Rings Symphony performances. The reviewer Murray Black said that "The undoubted highlight of the evening was guest vocalist Katie Noonan. Here is a rare talent with a voice of extraordinary beauty and versatility. In most of her solos, she sounded like a classical soprano as she soared over the orchestra with a spine-tingling, vibrato-less angelic purity. Then, in Gollum's Song and the Oscar-winning Into the West, she revealed her pop diva credentials with her strong, clear voice projecting effortlessly out in the audience."
2005: Before Time Could Change Us and the Broad Festival
Paul Grabowsky and Noonan teamed up for the jazz cycle
Before Time Could Change Us. Consisting of words written by
Dorothy Porter, the album tracks "the mysterious shifts and changes of a relationship".
The album won the 2005 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album.
Later in 2005, Noonan was invited by Deborah Conway to take part in the Broad Festival project—together with three other Australian female artists they performed their own and each other's songs.
2007: Skin and Second Skin
Noonan recorded a solo album entitled
Skin at Sydney's
Linear Recording in 2006. Produced by
Andrew Klippel,
Skin was released on 11 August 2007 and debuted at number 6 on the ARIA Top 50 album charts and number 1 on the Australian ARIA Top 20 album chart. The debut single, "Time To Begin", debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Top 50.
Following the success of the remix of "Time To Begin", Noonan collaborated with John Course and Mr Timothy. The collaboration involved the re-recording of Noonan's vocal tracks and a dance version of her solo album was released under the title Second Skin.
On 22 February 2008, Noonan was a support act for Cyndi Lauper at King's Park Botanic Gardens, Perth, Western Australia, and was invited on stage by Lauper to sing along to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Also in 2008, Noonan was featured as the vocalist in Telstra's "I Am Australian" series of advertisements.
2008: Blackbird: The Music of Lennon and McCartney
Noonan released a jazz album of Lennon and McCartney cover versions in 2008 entitled
.
2010: Emperor's Box
The Katie Noonan and the Captains' album
Emperor's Box was created over a three-year period and is Noonan's second release for
Sony Music. She wrote all of the songs and collaborated with the following artists during the recording of the album:
Tim Finn (
Split Enz),
Sia, Don Walker (
Cold Chisel),
Josh Pyke and Australian writer/poet
Tom Shapcott. The album was co-produced by Noonan and
Nick DiDia (
Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Stone Temple Pilots,
Powderfinger).
It was preceded by the single "Page One" released in February.
2011–2012: Songs from the British Isles and Songs of the Southern Skies
In 2011, Noonan collaborated with
Karin Schaupp and toured
Songs from the British Isles. An EP was released available only from Noonan's website. In 2012, the two recorded
Songs of the Southern Skies. The album was nominated for two ARIA Awards at the 2012 ceremony.
2013: Songbook and Fierce Hearts
In 2013, Noonan released
Songbook, an album that saw her re-recording songs from her time in George and Elixir. She also worked with the Sydney Dance Company on the production
Les Illuminations.
2014: Fierce Hearts
In 2014, she released
Fierce Hearts which was nominated for an ARIA Award at the 2014 ceremony. It was music alongside a contemporary circus show by Circa.
2015: Transmutant
In 2015, Noonan released
Transmutant through Universal Music Australia. The album peaked at number 33 on the ARIA Charts.
2016: With Love and Fury
In 2016, Noonan collaborated with the
Brodsky Quartet and released
With Love and Fury in April. They toured Australia throughout April and May.
2017: Songs of the Latin Skies
In December 2016, Noonan announced the release
Songs of the Latin Skies with Karin Schaupp. The album was released in February 2017 and saw the duo embark on a musical journey through the
South American songbook, exploring the sounds and beats of the bossa nova, salsa, tango and samba. The duo played live shows across the country throughout 2017.
2018: Gratitude and Grief
In 2018, Noonan reunited with Elixir and released
Gratitude and Grief in August 2018. The album was nominated for Best Jazz album at the 2018 ARIA Awards.
2019: The Little Green Road to Fairyland and The Glad Tomorrow
In April 2019, Noonan released
The Little Green Road to Fairyland with Camerata and the Queensland Chamber Orchestra. In August, Noonan collaborated with the Australian String Quartet for
The Glad Tomorrow. The new album sees Noonan perform uniquely Australian poetry of Queenslander and First Nations icon Oodgeroo Noonuccal to music.
2020: Late Night Tunes with Noons and The Sweetest Taboo
In January 2020, Noonan confirmed the release of a mini-album titled
Late Night Tunes with Noons. The album featured Noonan covering a range of Australian songs, with the inclusion of one original track.
In May 2020, Noonan released her twentieth album, The Sweetest Taboo, a jazz album covering 1980s pop songs.
2021: AVÉ
In May 2021, Noonan launched the Australian Vocal Ensemble (AVÉ), an
a cappella quartet. The other members are tenor Andrew Goodwin, mezzo-soprano Fiona Campbell and bass-baritone Andrew O'Connor.
2023: Joni Mitchell's Blue tour
In January 2023, Noonan commenced a national tour of 40 concerts, performing the entirety of
Joni Mitchell's seminal album
Blue, marking the 50th anniversary since its release. Usually accompanied by a single acoustic guitarist,
the first concert took place at the 2023
Sydney Festival with the final concert in
Bendigo, Victoria, on 16 September 2023.
2025: Jeff Buckley's Grace tour
In 2025, Noonan toured
Jeff Buckley's
Grace album.
Other activities
A National Office for Live Music was launched by Australian prime minister
Kevin Rudd in July 2013 and, as of August 2013, Noonan is the state ambassador for Queensland.
In 2013, Noonan combined with the Sydney Dance Company and musicians from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conductor Richard Gill to perform Benjamin Britten's song cycle Les Illuminations at Sydney's City Recital Hall Angel Place.[ Discover Britten with Katie Noonan, performance details, Sydney Symphony Orchestra] This production was taken in 2014 to Brisbane's QPAC with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under Johannes Fritzsch.[ Performance details , QPAC]
In 2014, Noonan was part of the I Touch Myself Project, with a mission to encourage young women to touch themselves regularly to find early signs of cancer. They released a version of "I Touch Myself" which peaked at number 72 on the ARIA singles chart.
Noonan was the official ambassador to the Adelaide Fringe in 2014.[ 5 Minutes With Katie Noonan , Adelaide Fringe]
In 2018, Noonan performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In August 2020, Noonan was unmasked as the "Sloth" in the second season of The Masked Singer Australia. She was the fourth contestant revealed, placing 9th overall.
In February 2021, Noonan was announced as the artistic director of the National Folk Festival.
On 25 September 2022, Noonan sang the National Anthem at the pre-game ceremony of the 2022 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Personal life
Noonan was married to Isaac Hurren, her longtime partner and collaborator in Elixir, from 2004 to 2025. They are parents to two sons.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Charted singles
Awards and nominations
AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as the
AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's independent music sector.
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| 2011
| First Seed Ripening
| Best Independent Jazz Album
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ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards are annual awards which recognises excellence, innovation and achievement across all genres of
Australian music. Noonan has won four awards from twelve nominations.
In addition to that, she won one award from eight nominations during her time with band george.
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| 2005
| Before Time Could Change Us (with Paul Grabowsky)
| Best Jazz Album
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| [ARIA Award previous winners. ]
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| 2007
| "Time to Begin"
| Best Female Artist
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| 2008
| Skin
| Best Adult Contemporary Album
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| 2009
| Blackbird: The Music of Lennon and McCartney
| Rowspan="2" | Best Jazz Album
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| Rowspan="2" | [ARIA Award previous winners. ]
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| 2016
| With Love and Fury (with Brodsky Quartet)
| Best Classical Album
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| 2017
| Songs of the Latin Skies (with Karin Schaupp)
| Best World Music Album
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| 2018 || Gratitude and Grief (with Elixir)
| Rowspan="2" |Best Jazz Album
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(Elixir featuring Katie Noonan, Zac Hurren & Ben Hauptmann)
| Best Jazz Album
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Australian Women in Music Awards
The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the Australian Music Industry who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018.
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| 2018
| Rowspan="4" | Katie Noonan
| Rowspan="2" | Creative Leadership Award
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National Live Music Awards
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) commenced in 2016 to recognise contributions to the live music industry in Australia.
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| rowspan="2" | 2023
| Katie Noonan
| Best Live Voice in Qld
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| rowspan="2" |
(featuring Katie Noonan, Fiona Campbell, Andrew Goodwin and Andrew O'Connor)
| Best Classical Act
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External links
