Jasmine Lovell-Smith

Jasmine Lovell-Smith is a composer and saxophonist from Christchurch, New Zealand. She has recently returned to live in Wellington, NZ after 7 years based overseas in the USA and Mexico. Her music has been described as “arrestingly wry and lyrical” (New York City Jazz Record), “honest, intelligent chamber jazz” (Jazz Times) & “[an] unashamedly rich tapestry of sound” (Dominion Post, NZ). While living in New York City, Jasmine formed her quintet ‘Towering Poppies,’ with whom she has released two albums (2012’s Fortune Songs and 2016’s Yellow Red Blue).

Jasmine holds a Master of Arts in composition from Wesleyan University (Connecticut), where she studied with Anthony Braxton and Paula Matthusen. She has also been an artist in residence at the Atlantic Centre for the Arts, working with Marilyn Crispell, and has attended the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music under the directorship of Dave Douglas (2008) and Vijay Iyer (2015). Jasmine’s works have been commissioned by the Wellington Jazz Festival, Stroma and the Jac, the New Zealand School of Music and Hannah Darroch and Andrew Crooks. Jasmine has studied with compositional luminaries including John Psathas (NZSM DMA, 2021) and Paula Matthusen (Wesleyan University MA, 2014).

Jasmine currently works as an Artist Teacher at the New Zealand School of Music and serves on the artistic advisory panel of the Wellington Jazz Festival.