Jess McAvoy (they/them) is a non-binary artist, musician, voice facilitator, and performance-maker whose work sits at the intersection of music, identity, and human expression.
They began their career in 1990s Australia as one of the few openly queer independent artists working outside mainstream industry pathways. That early experience of building a creative life without institutional permission shaped a career defined by artistic independence, community connection, and a deep commitment to helping others claim their own voice.
Over the past three decades, Jess has written and recorded more than twenty albums and built a substantial international body of work as a touring performer, songwriter, and collaborator. Their work spans concert stages, theatres, festivals, and community spaces, and is known for its emotional directness, astute storytelling, and powerful live presence.
Their original one-person rock theatre work, The Search, expands this storytelling into an innovative theater performance, weaving music, narrative, and multiple inner perspectives to explore identity, self-acceptance, and the complexity of being human.
Alongside their performing career, Jess has spent over twenty years working as a voice coach and facilitator, including a decade in New York City, where they became one of the highest-rated independent voice coaches in the city. They work with a wide range of clients—from professional singers, Broadway performers, and recording artists to public speakers, professional actors, CEO’s, leaders, and people who believe they “can’t sing.”
Jess’s approach treats voice as a whole-body practice. Drawing on somatic work, breath, nervous system awareness, and contemporary voice modalities, they help people move beyond performance anxiety, vocal inhibition, physical strain and self-consciousness to access expression that feels grounded, connected, and authentic.
This philosophy comes to life in The Sing Easy™, their participatory community singing experience designed specifically for non-singers and reluctant singers. The work centers ease, belonging, and collective sound, creating spaces where expression matters more than perfection.
Across all areas of their work—as musician, performance-maker, teacher, and facilitator—Jess is guided by a single question:
YOUR VOICE IS A POWERFUL GATEWAY TO FREEDOM.
What becomes possible when people stop performing who they think they’re supposed to be and start sounding like themselves?
Jess’ work centers people who have often been left outside dominant cultural narratives, including queer and trans communities, neurodivergent people, cultural outsiders, late bloomers, perfectionists, and anyone who has learned to hold themselves back.
Themes of belonging, transformation, and self-permission run through everything they create. Their spaces are designed to be low-barrier, participatory, emotionally honest, and artistically rigorous.
Jess believes voice is a human right.
Whether on stage, in a workshop, or in a room full of people singing together, Jess McAvoy’s work isn’t about creating better performers.
It’s about creating braver humans — and expanding who feels allowed to be heard.