In a career that spans over 25 years, this multi-dimensional artist has been performing, composing and arranging music with voice, harp and piano skills honed since childhood. Just like her name, pronounced ‘Vish-nya’, she has a mysterious sound to define, but it’s timeless yet contemporary music that will give you goosebumps. Visnja’s most recent performing highlight was at the prestigious Penfolds Magill Estate for the AFL’s inaugural Gather Round media launch in Adelaide in March 2023. She has returned to her home city after decades of musical adventures interstate.

Visnja was a child of immigrants harking from Croatia. Although no-one in her family was musical, she discovered her life’s passion whilst learning recorder at eight years of age in Adelaide’s western suburbs. Her relentless campaign of pestering her father to buy a piano since the age of four finally bore fruit when she turned 11, after which Visnja wrote her first song. She excelled at baroque music on the recorder and classical piano studies, but song writing, pop and folk music took over. The big smoke of Melbourne called in her twenties. Visnja moved there to focus on live performing, writing and recording sessions for other artists to pay the bills.

Visnja’s big break happened when Melbourne DJ Josh Abrahams of Addicted to Bass fame introduced her to vintage ‘70s heartthrob-turned music manager Mark Holden just before he became a judge on Australian Idol in the late 1990s. With Mark’s backing, Visnja took her song writing and performing to great heights, winning three categories in the MusicOz song writing contest and performing her award-winning aria on Channel Nine’s Carols by Candlelight in 2002 before a live audience of 30,000 people at the Myer Music Bowl, televised to an additional audience of 4 million. Not long after her TV breakthrough, Visnja fell in love with her first harp during her debut season at the 2003 National Folk Festival in Canberra. She drove her purchase home to Melbourne and added its angelic timbre to her sound. She hasn’t stopped collecting folk harps since.

With three self-produced albums under her belt since those earlier days in Melbourne, Visnja has contributed to film soundtracks, published a children’s song book and composed and recorded the theme song for Zingara the Gypsy Queen, a musical spectacular with a year-long run at Jupiters Casino in 2007. Visnja has tailored music for large corporate events, product launches and fundraisers since 2002 for clients including AFL, Toyota, Lexus, Gwendolynne clothing label, The Adelaide Crows, The 10 Network and Channel 7 Melbourne.

She’s had a standing ovation from the Malaysian Royal Family, performed at celebrity weddings and helped people heal through music in community healthcare settings, with her harp and singing forming part of a study called Harmony in the Bush undertaken by Flinders University in 2018. Right at home amongst mother nature, Visnja has sung at her harp in events by the Coral Sea and rivers deep in the Wet Tropics during a seven year stint living in Far North Queensland.

In concert, you can hear Visnja warble at her beautiful Celtic harp, but she is equally comfortable at a grand piano or can break into Irish flute when the occasion and setting require. Sometimes it’s just her voice acapella. Visnja’s many years of solid performing experience translate into great intuition and professionalism to smoothly deliver classy visuals and inspiring musical selections fit for the occasion. Discover the emotional power of live music and great songs again with Visnja.

• Channel 9 Carols by Candlelight
• Channel 7 Good Friday Appeal
• National Folk Festival, Canberra
• ABC Radio
• Contributed to music for Zingara the Gypsy Queen musical spectacular, Jupiters Casino