Australia Jazz School
Our Tutors
Meet The Tutors
They are amongst best International and Australian jazz tutors.
Simon Purcell
Although best known as an educator, since the mid 1980s, Simon has performed with amongst others Red Rodney, Kenny Wheeler, Eddie Henderson, Martin Taylor, Stan Sulzman, Jean
Toussaint and Julian Arguelles. His current band “Red Circle” features Julian Siegel, Chris Batchelor, Steve Watts and Gene Calderazzo, recently appearing opposite Archie Shepp at the EFG London Jazz Festival.
Combining a career as performer and educator, Simon Purcell has mentored many of Britain’s talented young jazz musicians, receiving the award for Jazz Educationalist of the Year from the Parliamentary Jazz Committee in 2006.
Simon was appointed International Chair in Improvisation at the Guildhall School of Music in London in 2019, formerly Head of Jazz at Trinity-Laban Conservatoire from 2005-2017 and member of the Pop and Jazz Steering Group for the Association of European Conservatoires from 2009-2018.
Simon’s research into student-centred learning in jazz was published by Ashgate in 2005 and current work investigates the integration of mindfulness directly with musical practice – the 4Ps.
Find out more about Simon Purcell at his OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Michelle Nicolle
Bell Award (2017), Mo Award 2001, 2003 & 2004, National Jazz Award (1998) winner and A.R.I.A Finalist 2001, 2004, 2009 Michelle Nicolle is celebrated as one of Australia’s finest female jazz singers.
Known for her ability to get right to the heart of a song, as well as being an in the moment improviser Michelle has released 9 CDs and toured extensively Australia and internationally including Tokyo Jazz Festival, Jarasum Jazz Festival (Korea), North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Asia Pacific Festival (Russia), Prague Jazz Festival, Sidebar, (New Orleans), Kulak’s Woodshed (LA), The Blue Building (NYC).
She has performed with Kurt Elling and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and in Aug/Sep of 2023 will be singing with Wynton Marsalis’ JLCO and the MSO and the SSO’s “All Rise”.
Michelle holds a Bachelor of Education, an Associate Diploma of Jazz (University of Adelaide) and currently teaches at University of Melbourne, VCASS (Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School) and Monash University.
Since 1998 she has conducted Masterclasses and Workshops all over Australia, and in Singapore, Taiwan and at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music (London), JEN Conference (New Orleans 2017, 2020, Orlando 2023), Frost School of Music (University of Miami 2017), University of North Texas 2019, Oceanside Jazz Festival 2019 (Mira Costa, USA), International Jazz Voice Conference 2015 and 2019 (Finland), Cal State University Northridge and Cal State University Long Beach 2023)
As an educator, Michelle advocates for the vocalist as an equally respected and valued musical member of the jazz ensemble. Her philosophy that has developed as a performer of 30+ years is that fluency in improvising comes from strength in musical independence.
Michelle teaches her students about security in the form, time, melody, pitch and harmony – all whilst supporting the story of the song. Independence as a vocalist, relying on no other member of an ensemble, allows freedom and confidence in hearing and expressing the musical landscape as well as any instrumentalist.
Julian Siegel
JULIAN SIEGEL is an in-demand saxophonist on the UK and European Jazz scene who has worked with many of the top figures in the music. He was awarded the 2007 BBC Jazz
Award for Best Instrumentalist.
He is currently touring with the Julian Siegel Quartet featuring pianist Liam Noble, bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene Calderazzo. The
Quartet’s first CD ‘Urban Theme Park’ was awarded the 2011 London Jazz Award and in February 2018 the Quartet released their new album ‘VISTA’ on Whirlwind Recordings.
Since the release of ‘VISTA’, the band has performed internationally at Jazz Festivals including Inntöne Jazz Festival in Austria, Made in The UK at the Rochester International
Jazz Festival, NY, Jazz Standard NYC, JazzFestival Göttingen, Germany, Limerick Jazz Festival Ireland, UK’s Love Supreme Festival, Bristol and Manchester International Jazz
Festivals and an extensive 2018 – 2019 Arts Council England UK Tour.
The Quartet was featured on the cover of UK’s Jazzwise Magazine in February 2018 and VISTA was included
in Jazzwise’s Top 20 Jazz Albums of the year.
You can find out more about Julian Siegel at his OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Ben Robertson
VCA graduate, bassist Ben Robertson has developed a reputation for musical excellence and inventiveness in a wide variety of musical settings, with recording studio credits of over 60 jazz and commercial CD releases and performing experience with well-known Australian performers (Vince Jones, James Morrison, Tony Gould) and international artists (Lee Konitz, Barbara Cooke, Warren Vache, Mark Murphy).
He is a harmonic and listening musician, a great asset to an ensemble as both an improvising soloist and spontaneous arranger. He is also highly regarded as a teacher,
with wide experience in secondary and tertiary environments.
Ben has several compositions published internationally and pieces featured on the current VCE contemporary bass syllabus. In 2019 he commenced a PhD candidature at the Australian National University and toured Australia and New Zealand with the Australian Opera performing West Side Story.
Ronny Ferella
Over the last 20 plus years drummer, composer and educator Ronny Ferella has become an important figure in the Melbourne music community.
Highly respected as a performer bandleader & educator he has also become an active organiser and champion of live music in community spaces. Since moving to Melbourne from Adelaide in 1995 Ronny has regularly performed in the jazz, blues and experimental music scene with many of Australia’s leading performers.
He is an in demand sideman and very experienced band leader and concert organiser.
His performances take him all over the world but much of his activity is in his local community of Brunswick where he performs with his own groups and mentors up and coming young musicians.