ABOUT JULIET DUNN

Juliet is quite world experienced with many global connections making her an eclectic and seasoned performer. Originally hailing from the UK and half Jamaican, Juliet has lived in Vancouver BC, Niagara-on-the-Lake and St. Catharines, Ontario as well as Paris, France where she lived for 13 years.  She now resides in the Niagara region of Ontario.

Unlike most, Juliet submerged herself in the world of music and theatre at a later age (in her 20’s), which took place for the most part in France and continues to this day as she develops more and more as an artist here in Canada.

During Juliet’s years of residence in Paris, France, her passion for jazz grew as she trained with Monsieur Jean Salamero. Jean introduced her to many of the French icons such as Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Henri Salvador and more.  At this time she also had the opportunity to perform a Josephine Baker tribute show which is also a favorite in France.  Juliet’s influences include the likes of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and many more.

Also whilst in France, Juliet landed the lead role of a jazz singer / nanny in the French film ‘L’Amerloque’ (The Yankee), and also released 2 CD singles (Disco) in France, Belgium and Holland.  One of the singles was her own original composition:  Flowing Downstream.

After having left France, Juliet returned to Vancouver to pursue her acting career where she landed various roles in film and television productions.  In She also immersed herself in the musical theatre world and she received the ‘Aida Broadbent Award’ for her performance in the T.U.T.S. (Theatre Under the Stars) production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’.

It was from here that she was soon after hired to perform for the prestigious Shaw Theatre Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.  At Shaw she performed in both the musical productions as well as several of the plays.  This was an incredible opportunity for her to learn and grow as an artist and she was honoured to receive the Tony Van Bridge Award at Shaw in 2002 for the ‘most promising newcomer’.

In 2003 Juliet became actively involved with ‘Carousel Players’ who do theatre catered to young audiences and she continues her work with this company to this day. She has done several tours with Carousel as well as workshops in the schools and summer camps. Stemming from her youth and her involvement with the YMCA,  Juliet has always had a natural ability to connect with children of all ages and really enjoys the opportunity to work with them.  She has also developed her first play for TYA under the theme of environmental awareness. This is a message she hopes to bring to young audience members throughout the nation at some time in the future.

After having toured with Carousel Players for 2 shows, Juliet started to connect with local jazz musicians in the Niagara Region and began to pursue her longtime dream of becoming a jazz vocalist.  She has now been performing jazz professionally for the past 8 years with a myriad of talented Canadian musicians, and performs regularly in Canada as well as abroad.  Her voice has taken her to such exotic places as Hong Kong, Morocco, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, French Polynesia, the Middle East, Europe, the Caribbean and more.  Juliet performs regularly with her husband and musical Partner Peter Shea and together they have formed a duo called ‘The Shea D Duo’.  With this duo they perform an assortment of jazz, soul and pop.  Juliet’s other bands include the Juliet Dunn Quintet, Le Trio Parisien (her French band) and the Kitt Cat Collective.

In 2010 Juliet was invited to perform as the guest vocalist with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra for their ‘Pops’ series conducted by Dianne Wittry.  The show was appropriately called:  ‘It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing’ and for Juliet this was an amazing and unforgettable experience.

Juliet has also fulfilled another longtime goal by independently releasing her first French album.  With Peter Shea, they put together a group called ‘Le Trio Parisien’ and released their album called ‘C’est Si Bon’ in 2010.  This album features French Cabaret music and Juliet gets to shine with all of her favorite French songs that are so dear to her heart.  (Together they have also developed a cabaret show called:  ‘Café de Paris’ which they had the pleasure of performing on the main stage on the Silver Spirit.)  For this album, Juliet was honored to be the recipient of the Niagara Music Award for ‘Jazz Group of the Year 2011’ with her band ‘Le Trio Parisien’ and she also took home the same award in 2009 for her group ‘The Juliet Dunn Quintet’.

Juliet also has had the pleasure of hosting her own radio show on Canada’s premier jazz station:  JAZZ.FM 91.  Her show “Sunrise” ran for 3 years (October 2011 - October 2014) and aired every Saturday and Sunday morning from 6am – 9am. Juliet absolutely loves this new aspect of her career and loved sharing her love for jazz with the JAZZ.FM 91 listeners.  She hopes to do some more work in Radio in the near future.

Juliet also started the Twilight Jazz Series with Peter Shea  in October of 2011 and they are thrilled to see that their series is still going strong as they now move into their 5th season.  They feature a different jazz ensemble the first Sunday of every month at Mahtay Café and Lounge and are hoping to help build and add to the jazz scene in their home town of St. Catharines.   So far they have brought in performers such as Kevin Turcotte, John Sherwood,Henry Heillig, Barbra Lica, Duncan Hopkins, John Neudorf, Reg Schwager, Kevin Breit and many, many more. 

To add to their Twilight Jazz Series, Juliet and Peter have also invested much of their time and energy by bringing the TD Niagara Jazz Festival to Niagara.  Now in its 4th year the Festival is featured the last week end in July will be an annual jazz festival.  Details of this year’s festival found here:  www.niagarajazzfestival.com.

With the rest of her time, this busy lady engages in many other activities such as being a booking agent for other musicians, emceeing for Festivals and various venues, teaching Zumba, working with children, volunteering and much more to keep her young at heart. 

Her future goals include composing more of her own original songs, collaborating with her husband and musical partner Peter Shea, releasing new albums, performing at more jazz festivals in Canada and overseas, further exploration into the world of French music, donating more time to her community, and learning and growing as a singer, musician and individual.