Dr Jesse Austin-Stewart (he/him) is a sound artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is a composer, sound artist, producer, and academic and is a lecturer at Massey University in the School of Music and Screen Arts Te Rewa o Puanga.
As a sound artist, Jesse creates works that explore ways to make the field more inclusive. He has written works for contemporary dance and film and created performance art works and sound installations. His works have been exhibited across Aotearoa, Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Japan, Sweden, USA, and more.
Jesse is a recipient of the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Springboard Award and has been nominated for the international Sound of the Year Awards. His work has also had numerous nominations at the Student Radio Network awards. As a producer, he has recorded work for short films, orchestra, solo artists and bands, small ensemble, opera, and his work has received over 2,850,000 streams online.
His research and creative work has received over $600,000 in funding as a primary applicant and collaborator. His work has been feature in numerous local and international publications including NME, MixMag, MusicTech, The Spinoff, RNZ, Stuff, and more.
As a physically disabled and neurodivergent person, accessibility is core to Jesse’s research.