About Natalie

Award-winning Australian jazz vocalist and composer Natalie Dietz has made an striking impression on the international jazz scene in a short time, impressing both audiences and critics alike with her warm, gracefully ethereal vocal tone and her original music which continues to trailblaze into new territory. As a result in 2016 she received the ASCAP Herb Alpert national young jazz composer's award. Accepted into the renowned jazz vocal program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2009, Natalie honed her performing skills under the tutelage of Australian jazz luminaries Judy Bailey and Matt McMahon, with whom she began to explore jazz composition. She has shared the stage with some of Australia's most distinguished jazz musicians and has collaborated with latin jazz bassist Waldo Fabian. After graduating with a Bachelor of Music (Jazz Voice Performance) in 2012, Natalie toured Australia and New Zealand performing at renowned jazz venues including Sydney’s 505, the Jazzgroove Association, SIMA, Melbourne’s Paris Cat, The Ellington in Perth, Turnaround Jazz Club in Brisbane and New Zealand’s Creative Jazz Club.

Her original compositions have been quick to earn international attention. She is inspired to blend and create textures with the voice within an ensemble, using wordless melodies as well as lyrics. Her compositions explore the breadth of modern styles, distinguishing her as an innovative and multi-skilled artist. In 2012 Natalie was awarded the Australian Government initiative ‘Artstart’ grant and the Performer’s Trust Foundation grant which she used to travel to New York and further her study. In 2013 she recorded her debut EP with highly esteemed New York musicians Aaron Parks, Mike Moreno, Joshua Crumbly and Justin Brown to international critical acclaim. Other achievements include being the only Australian vocalist nominated as a semi-finalist for the Riga Jazz Stage 2014 international jazz vocal competition and being 1 of 8 Australian composers selected nationwide for the WAYJO composers workshop. In 2014 Natalie joined the vocal faculty at renowned contemporary music college The Australian Institute of Music in Sydney, departing on being offered a merit scholarship to New England Conservatory in Boston where studied with world-renowned jazz artists including Dominique Eade, Donny McCaslin, Jason Moran, Ken Schaphorst and Dave Holland.

Natalie is a recipient of the Dame Joan Sutherland fund, the Ian Potter Cultural Trust and was the only musician finalist in Australia's prestigious 2015 NSW Creative Achievement Awards as an emerging creative talent.Natalie is a recipient of ASCAP's Herb Alpert 2016 National Young Jazz Composer's Award, and the New England Conservatory Spark award. Since relocating to the United States Natalie has performed her music in New York City at established venues including Club Bonafide, Shapeshifter Lab, Pianos and Rockwood Music Hall, in Boston at venues including New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall, The Beehive and Cambridge venues the Lilypad and Outpost 186. She has performed with established New York City based jazz artists including Mike Moreno, Sam Harris, Joshua Crumbly and Colin Stranahan.