2022 marks the 10 year anniversary of Perth International Jazz Festival and during National Volunteer Week (May 16 to 22), we recognise the excellent work of our volunteers who help make our events such a success. We couldn’t do it without you!

A big thanks to Volunteering WA and Lotterywest for their funding support, and if you’d like to join our volunteer team in November 2022 in Perth or Busselton, please apply HERE.

We’d now like you to meet some of our volunteers!

Mark Pearson

How long have you volunteered for the festival?
9 years

Why did you start volunteering for the festival?
I enjoy jazz and wanted to help Dr Graham Wood.

What have been your highlights during your time as a volunteer?
Hearing and meeting legends such as Gary Bartz, Yellowjackets, Peter Bernstein, and Vivian Sessoms.

Do you have any stories you would like to share about volunteering?
Hearing great music from the side of stage is a totally different listening experience. Every artist/band has a different approach to preparing for the gig and winding down afterwards.

Anything to add?
Please volunteer, your help is required to make the event run smoothly and you will be rewarded by a great experience.

Photo by Angelyne Wolfe


Peter Taylor

How long have you volunteered for the festival?
2021 was my first year of volunteering.

Why did you start volunteering for the festival?
I started volunteering after seeing the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on the live music scene. As a former jazz student, I thought I was past my time assisting in these events. But when PIJF put out a call for volunteers, I realised I still had a lot of skills I could contribute. I want both young and old musicians and fans to be able to enjoy the things I spent years enjoying myself.

What have been your highlights during your time as a volunteer?
Volunteering at Jazz in Hyde Park in 2021 was an amazing experience. The crowd was fantastic (even joining in the jazz march) and every part of the crew brought their best to make it the fantastic experience it was. If anyone was there, they may remember me as the guy in the high-vis who dispensed a litre of sunscreen across the day.

Do you have any stories you would like to share about volunteering?
Volunteering opportunities with PIJF aren’t just the job that’s on the tin. It’s about helping others have a good time! If you know anything about the music being played, chat to people and share it. It makes their experience so much more than just going to a show, it helps them feel like part of the community.

Anything to add?
I attended WAAPA in 2015 as a jazz saxophonist. Although I no longer play publicly, I’ve also played clarinet for a long time and even dabbled in composing. I am now a paramedicine student.

Photo by L Riley


Mar Knox

How long have you volunteered for the festival?
5 years

Why did you start volunteering for the festival?
For the love of jazz!!! Over the many years that Perth has had a jazz festival (in many different incarnations, including down in Fremantle, and in York, not to mention this wonderful festival originally started by Dr. Graham Wood), I have always tried to attend as many events as possible. Volunteering was a way to give back to the amazing community of artists that we have in this great city.

What have been your highlights during your time as a volunteer?
As Chair of the Festival for the past three years, there have been so many highlights! The fact that we were able to deliver a festival not once, but over the past two years during the pandemic was certainly on the top of the list. Doing so much behind the scenes work last year to be able to launch our successfully re-branded image and website last year was also a highlight. And finally – being awarded the game changing RISE grant of over $500,000 last year was something that made me personally very proud – and has enabled the organisation for the first time, to hire staff, and move into its next phase of operations. I feel so proud!

Do you have any stories you would like to share about volunteering?
I love the fact that so many of us come back year after year to help deliver this festival. There is so much work that goes into delivering the festival, and it literally takes a team of many, who so selflessly give their time, in order to make it the amazing festival that it is. I always love to see those familiar faces each year, as well as working with such a strong and committed board throughout the year to ensure that the festival is as fabulous as it can be.

Anything to add?
Where would the world be without volunteers?  Since retiring from the corporate world in 2008, my life has become a “volunteering life”.  I have been so pleased to be able to marry my business skills with my love of jazz for the Perth International Jazz Festival.

Photo by Angelyne Wolfe


Jess Herbert

How long have you volunteered for the festival?
2 years

Why did you start volunteering for t
he festival?
I started volunteering in 2020 as an MC at the free outdoor concert at Hyde Park. Initially, I thought it would be something fun and different and get me out of my comfort zone a little. I quickly realised that what it really was, was the opportunity to share my love of jazz with a community of people who don’t necessarily see live music on a regular basis. Volunteering was a way to give back to the amazing community of artists that we have in this great city.

What have been your highlights during your time as a volunteer?
MC-ing the Hyde Park event is such an incredible experience. Seeing over 1000 people come together to watch jazz in Perth is truly invigorating and gives me hope for the future of jazz and the wider arts community in WA. As musicians sometimes we forget that it’s a privilege to share what we do with others and the Hyde Park event is the epitome of sharing our art with the wider community.

Do you have any stories you would like to share about volunteering?
Last year, I sat next to a grandmother of a child playing clarinet in the jazz parade. The child went to Armadale SHS and was part of the program that WAYJO runs there. It was the first time that this woman had ever been to a concert in her life. Tears of pride filled her eyes as she watched her granddaughter stomp merrily around the park surrounded by other musicians. She explained that she had never had these sorts of opportunities growing up and her life hadn’t been an easy one, but to see her granddaughter so filled with happiness and the joy of making music, she was grateful. It was a privilege to meet her.


Janelle Graham

How long have you volunteered for the festival?
4 years

Why did you start volunteering for the festival?
I enjoy the art of volunteering! Love meeting new people and have always enjoyed listening to different genres of jazz and community of artists that we have in this great city.

What have been your highlights during your time as a volunteer?
Going to venues I haven’t been to in ages (pre-children!) and being able to provide some much needed support (especially during COVID-19) to the artists and promoters doing it hard these past years. All of the artists are so grateful for the opportunity to have an event to share their craft and similarly appreciative audiences.

Do you have any stories you would like to share about volunteering?
Just the great sense of wealth and camaraderie of being part of the team. When asked if you want to do a job, you just roll up your sleeves and get into it!

Anything to add?
Put your hand up! You can be as busy and involved as you wish, or stay silently in the background as support. Georgie will find a spot for you!

Photo: Janelle with board member Bao Wong by Mark Francesca

Generously supported by Lotterywest and Volunteering WA