Jessica Gethin

Award-winning conductor Jessica Gethin is recognised for her dynamic presence on the podium, musical versatility and inspiring artistic leadership. Equally at home in the concert hall and theatre, her repertoire spans symphonic, opera, ballet, film and contemporary works. She performs regularly with all of Australia’s major orchestras, including the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, West Australian, Queensland and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras as well as Orchestra Victoria, and works extensively with the West Australian Ballet and The Australian Ballet.

International engagements have taken her throughout Asia, New Zealand and the United States, for appearances with orchestras including the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic, Orchestra Macao and The Dallas Opera. She has collaborated with distinguished classical artists including Sir Bryn Terfel and Emma Matthews, as well as international jazz and contemporary artists including Harry Connick, Jr., Makoto Ozone, Michael Bolton and Chrissy Amphlett, in projects ranging from symphonic concerts to genre-crossing productions presented at leading venues including the Sydney Opera House, Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Carnegie Hall, New York. 

Jessica currently serves as Principal Conductor of West Australian Ballet, Artistic Advisor to Orchestra Victoria, and Head of Orchestral Studies and Conducting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, where she mentors the next generation of conductors and orchestral musicians. From 2011–2019, she was Chief Conductor of the Perth Symphony, shaping the orchestra’s artistic growth and national profile. She is also an ambassador and lead faculty member for Perth Symphony’s Women on the Podium initiative, championing greater representation and leadership pathways for women in conducting.

Her accolades include being named twice in Limelight Magazine’s Top 20 Australian Artists, inclusion in the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Most Influential Women, the Brian Stacey Emerging Australian Conductor Award, a Churchill Fellowship, appointment as an inaugural Hart Institute Fellow with The Dallas Opera, finalist for West Australian of the Year, and induction into the 2024 WA Women’s Hall of Fame.