Judy Bailey (pianist)

Bailey was born in Auckland and raised in Whangarei, a town in the north of New Zealand. As a young child she learned ballet, followed by piano and theory when she was 10 years old. She graduated from Trinity College London when she was 16.

Bailey moved to Australia in 1960,[2] spending most of her time in Sydney.[3] She has performed on TV, music venues such as the El Rocco and on many recordings.[2]

Bailey is a senior lecturer in jazz composition and jazz piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music[2] of which she commenced in 1973 and is also musical director of the Sydney Youth Jazz Ensemble (Jazz Connection).[4]

In 1973, Bailey became the pianist on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation children's radio show Kindergarten, which often featured presenters from Play School, notably Barbara Frawley, Alister Smart, Don Spencer and Geoff Ayling.[5]

In 2017, rapper Rick Ross with producer Bink sampled Bailey's "Colour of My Dreams" from the Judy Bailey Quartet album Colours. The sample was used on Ross' track "Santorini Greece" on the album Rather You Than Me.[6]

Bailey is a represented artist of the Australian Music Centre.[7]

• 2004: Order of Australia Medal for services to Music and Education.[9]
• 2008: Award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music at the Annual Classical Music Awards.[10]
• 2017: Awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sydney [9]
• 2022: Australia Council Don Banks Music Award[11]

• Official website
• Judy Bailey at IMDb
• AudioCulture profile