ABOUT
Jess Newman is an Australian and New York based, award-winning composer, lyricist, performer and pianist. His music spans a variety of genres from pop and musical theatre to film and contemporary classical. In 2023, he received the Mike Walsh Fellowship, composed operatic works for Opera Lucca, Italy, and songs for a special event in Israel, attended by President Isaac Herzog. Highlights from his new show, Scarlet, were recently released as an EP, and his song ‘It Starts Again’, from Einstein features on 16 Stories; an album of new musical theatre songs released by Broadway Records. He wrote the music and co-wrote the book for a new musical entitled Gold, which was presented at Tisch, NYU and was workshopped at The Hayes Theatre Company in 2021. His first musical, Einstein, had its 2016 premiere in Melbourne, Australia, and was selected by The Age as one of the highlights of the year in theatre, earning Jess an award from the Australian Cultural Fund. He was the winner of the 2017 New York City Center Encores Stephen Sondheim Song-Writing Competition, for which he performed an original song for Stephen Sondheim. The same year he was awarded the Dame Joan Sutherland award from the Australian-American Association.
““It’s genuinely exciting to encounter a young composer with such talent.” ”
He has also written music and lyrics for the song-cycle All The Time, presented at MUDFEST and the animated movie musical Out of the Woods, which premiered at ACMI. He has composed music for a number of short films, including: Thalidomide: The Wonder Drug and Echoes, which have been seen in a variety of film festivals across Australia. His songs have been performed at Radio City Music Hall, 54 Below, The Pershing Square Theatre, Two River Theatre and a number of charity benefits in Australia, including the 2017 Beyond Blue concert for mental health awareness.
Jess also has a passion for writing songs that campaign for political and social change, having written the pop anthem “Love is Love” to support the campaign for the 2017 Same-Sex Marriage Act in Australia and the song “Return” to raise funds for the performing arts during the pandemic.
He completed a masters of musical theatre writing at Tisch, NYU and a Bachelor of Music at the University of Melbourne. He has been mentored by West End composer Warren Wills and Broadway composer John Bucchino. Jess is a proud member of ASCAP.
