Country girl Heather Stewart knew from age seven she wanted to be a musician. Now based in Melbourne, Heather is in demand as a professional musician, freelance performer and specialist teacher. She is an award winning, internationally recognised blues and jazz singer as well as country blues, cajun, contemporary classical and folk fiddle player. She established her name with the Heather Stewart Band (country blues folk), Heather Stewart Sings (swing Jazz series), and Bell Award winning Leigh Barker & The New Sheiks who have SOLD OUT The Melbourne Town Hall for their 1600+ ticketed 2013 Melbourne International Jazz Festival June concert, and filled festivals and HAMER HALL with their collaborative Jazz and swing/tap dance project The Melbourne Rhythm Project.
Heather Stewart is a musician dedicated to sharing her passion for music with her audiences and students. She performs regularly in Australia and overseas, and has just returned from a summer touring circuit in Europe performing in the UK, Switzerland and Paris, France.
Her powerful and expressive voice and fiddle/violin playing combine the colour and depth of her original songwriting, repertoire of the greats and the strength of her the bandmembers around her. Heather brings together musical forces of the past to the present to create an original and uniquely Australian flavour to her music.
Heather completed a Bachelor of Music (first class hons) from University of Melbourne, Post Graduate Diploma from Victorian College of the Arts and recently a Masters of Arts from Monash University in string pedagogy. Before focusing on Jazz and Blues music, Heather performed in London as a classical orchestral violinist and opera chorus vocalist. To begin her jazz and blues career in ernest, she sought out Jazz masterclasses and lessons with Sheila Jordan, Barry Harris, Mark Murphy, Guild Hall School of Music and travelled and performed with musicians around Australia, Europe, the USA and UK.
Heather’s professional career has encompassed Jazz (1920s to 1950s), acoustic blues, cajun and country folk fiddle styles, original songwriting, improvised music projects and recently Tango repertoire of Astor Piazzolla. Click for links to Heather’s latest bands/projects.
