Vanessa Tomlinson (born 1971) is an Australian percussionist, composer, artistic director and educator. She is Director of Creative Arts Research Institute and Head of Percussion at Griffith University and has produced 150 publications. She is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Clocked Out, along with Erik Griswold.
Career In 1993 Tomlinson was awarded a recording contract with Etcetera Records, and won two awards for her percussion.
Upon completing her degree in Adelaide, Tomlinson studied with Bernhard Wulff and Robert van Sice at Musikhochschule Freiburg, Germany. She then moved to San Diego to complete a Masters under Steven Schick, and completed a Doctor Of Musical Arts in 2000.
Since 2000 she has collaborated with her partner Erik Griswold and released several albums together as Clocked Out Duo. They won two Green Room Awards for their collaboration Dada Cabare in 2000, and later won the Award for Excellence by an Organisation or Individual and Queensland State Award at 2011's APRA and AMC Art Music Awards for their work as Clocked Out.
In 2017 Tomlinson began a collaboration titled TOMLIN | FERGUS with Dr John Ferguson, an academic at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music where Tomlinson also taught.
In 2018 Tomlinson released her debut solo album The Space Inside on Room40 on cassette tape. She was an artist-in-residence at The Smithsonian Institution as part of its 2019 Year of Music, coining the term 'soundings' "to describe the way a musician activates a place or space". In 2020 Tomlinson initiated the 84 Pianos: Pandemic Edition project with Erik Griswold.
In October 2025, Tomlinson was announced as the new Director of the Queensland Conservatorium.
Discography 2019 - Pateras Collected Works Vol. II (2005-2018) Immediata
2018 - The Space Inside Room40
2017 - Ephemoral Rivers Hat Hut Records
2017 - Water Pushes Sand Jazzhead Records
2015 - Time Crystals Innova Records
2015 - Daughters Fever Hellosquare Recordings
2010 - From Small Things Grow Clocked Out
2010 - fish boast of fishing Listen Hear Collective
2010 - Foreign Objects Clocked Out
2007 - Wide Alley Clocked Out
2006 - Xenakis Complete Percussion Works Mode
2004 - Mutant Theatre Tzadik
2002 - Water Pushes Sand Clocked Out
2000 - Every Night the Same Dream Clocked Out
1997 - Ferneyhough Solo Works Etcetera
Awards +YearAwardWorkStatus2018Art Music Awards: QLD Award for Excellence in Experimental Music100 Ways to Listen with Leah Barclay and John Ferguson Winner2018Art Music Awards: NSW Award for Excellence in a Regional AreaTyalgum Music FestivalWinner2018Art Music Awards: WA Award for Excellence in PerformanceNever tilt your chairWinner2017Art Music Award: National Award for Excellence in Experimental MusicThe Piano Mill ProjectWinner2017Art Music Awards: QLD Award for Excellence by an IndividualConceiving and curating the 2016 Australian Percussion GatheringWinner2011Art Music Award: National Award for Excellence by an OrganisationClocked Out 2009-10 SeasonWinner2000Green Room Awards: Commitment To Cabaret (Venue/producer) and Most Innovative Use Of FormCabaret Dada with Erik GriswoldWinner
References
External links
Performance of Sonic Dream by Vanessa Tomlinson and John Ferguson (20 minute audio-video)