Samara Joy

Samara Joy is the most celebrated new voice in jazz. With a chart-topping major-label debut and five GRAMMY Awards — including Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album — her meteoric rise at just 25 years of age is a testament to her singular talent and remarkable presence as a performer. Hailed by NPR as “a classic jazz singer from a new generation” and “a legend in the making,” Joy’s remarkably rich and sophisticated voice has rightly earned comparisons to icons of the artform including Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

Following a string of early-career accolades — including winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and being named an Ella Fitzgerald Scholar at the State University of New York — Joy has gone on to headline major jazz festivals around the globe, sell out historic venues such as Jazz at the Lincoln Center, The Apollo Theater and The Village Vanguard, and captivate television audiences with appearances on The Tonight Show, CBS Mornings and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Accompanied by her incredible octet, Joy’s performance at Hamer Hall for the 2025 Melbourne International Jazz Festival promises to be a defining moment in an already outstanding career, reminding audiences that Samara Joy isn’t just the future of jazz — she’s its electrifying present.