Award Winning trumpeter/vocalist/composer next in WSCC Series

Bria Skonberg

VICTORY TOWNSHIP — One of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation, Bria Skonberg, will perform as part of West Shore Community College’s Performing Arts Series in collaboration with the Wharton Center for Performing Arts on Thursday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Center Stage Theater.

Bria Skonberg is a catalyst for all things jazz.  Hailing from West Coast Canada and now living in New York City, the award winning trumpeter/vocalist/composer is “poised to be one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Since moving to New York in 2010, Skonberg has earned a Jazz Journalists’ Association nomination for “Up and Coming Jazz Artist of The Year” and has been included twice in “Downbeat” magazine’s “Rising Star Critics’ Poll.” She has recently been honored with a New York Bistro Award for “Outstanding Jazz Artist” and swept the 2014 Hot House Jazz Magazine Awards in all categories nominated as the best jazz artist, best trumpet, best female vocalist and best group for the Bria Skonberg Quartet.

Since moving to New York she has headlined at major event spaces such as Symphony Space, Dizzy’s Coca Cola, the Iridium, Birdland and Cafe Carlyle. She has been featured on jazz luminary Wycliffe Gordon’s projects and studied with Warren Vache.

Best known for her knowledge of classic jazz and instigative nature, Skonberg is now creating an adventurous style rooted in New Orleans jazz and blues featuring mostly her original compositions.  Her debut U.S. release “So is the Day” (Random Act Records) peaked at #7 on the U.S. national jazz charts. The 2014 follow up release “Into Your Own” features percussionist Mino Cinelu (Miles Davis, Weather Report).  She is an active volunteer at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens, New York, co-producer of the New York Hot Jazz Festival and a founding director of the New York Hot Jazz Camp set to launch in 2016.

Her first professional gig was as a big band singer at age 16 in Abbotsford, British Columbia, doubling on trumpet and she has since performed as a bandleader and guest artist at over 50 jazz festivals in North America, Europe, China and Japan. She is a graduate of Capilano University’s jazz degree program and was featured in the 2010 opening ceremony of the Paralympics alongside Michael Kaeshammer with the Dal Richards Orchestra of which she was a member from 2006-2010.

“This is a concert music lovers will not want to miss,” said Ted Malt, director of the WSCC performing arts series. “It is an absolute honor to work collaboratively with the Wharton Center at Michigan State University to bring this level of artistry to our small corner of the world.  Bria Skonberg is an inspiration for young female artists and truly exemplifies the strength of women in music today.”

Tickets for the concert are available online at www.westshore.edu or the WSCC Box Office by calling 843-5507 or by emailingcaclerk@westshore.edu