2026 Artist: Shannon Barnett

Shannon Barnett is an Australian trombonist and composer, currently based in Cologne, Germany.

After establishing herself in the Australian scene she relocated to New York City, where she completed a Master of Music at SUNY Purchase and performed with artists like the Birdland Big Band, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society and Jon Faddis.

In early 2014, she moved to Cologne, Germany, to take up a position with the WDR Big Band, which gave her the opportunity to perform with guests including Vince Mendoza, Ron Carter, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider and Paquito D'Rivera. She has also become very active in the local scene. Her quartet, featuring Stefan Karl Schmid, David Helm and Fabian Arends has released three albums: ‘Hype’ (2016), ‘Bad Lover’ (2022) and ‘Alive at Loft’ (2023).

In addition to her work as a trombonist she has composed and presented the work 'Dead Weight' for musicians and fitness studio, and released the album Wolves and Mirrors, for voice, trombone, trumpet, cello and drums. In 2025, as a Monheim Triennale artist, she presented the work ‘How Much is the Moon?’ together with the EOS Chamber Orchestra.

In 2020 she received the WDR Jazz Prize for Improvisation and in 2022 she received the German Jazz Prize in the brass instrument category. Since April 2019 she has been Professor for Jazz Trombone at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, Germany.