St. Cecilia Music Center Jazz Series features Jazz at its finest on March 5 with Grammy Award Winning Jazz Vocalist Luciana Souza

St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) in Grand Rapids will bring Grammy Award winning Jazz Vocalist Luciana Souzato the Royce Auditorium Stage on March 5, 2020. As a jazz vocal leader, Luciana Souza has been releasing acclaimed recordings since 2002 - including her six Grammy nominated records Brazilian Duos, North and South, Duos II, Tide, Duos III, and The Book of Chet. Her debut recording for Universal, The New Bossa Nova, was produced by her husband, Larry Klein, and was met with widespread critical acclaim. Luciana’s recordings also include two works based on poetry - The Poems of Elizabeth Bishop And Other Songs, and Neruda. On Thursday, March 5, she will captive her audience during her program called “The Book of Longing” performing alongside Chico Pinheiro and Scott Colley for a night of sultry Brazilian jazz.

Beginning her recording career at age three with a radio commercial, Souza recorded more than 200 jingles and soundtracks becoming a first-call studio veteran at age sixteen. From 2005 to 2010, she was the Jazz Artist in Residence with the prestigious San Francisco Performances. In 2005 and 2013 Luciana was awarded Best Female Jazz Singer by the Jazz Journalists Association. Entertainment Weekly has said "Her voice traces a landscape of emotion that knows no boundaries.” 

Executive Director of St. Cecilia Music Center Cathy Holbrook says, “We are thrilled to have the multi-talented Luciana Souza on stage at St. Cecilia Music Center on March 5. To quote Billboard Magazine, ‘Her music soulfully reflects, wistfully regrets, romantically woos, joyfully celebrates...” All of us are looking forward to hearing her amazing voice and discovering her joyful, soulful and heartfelt music on March 5.” 

Concert tickets for Luciana Souza are $40 and $45 and can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.scmc-online.org.  A pre-concert reception for $15 at 6:30 pm, with wine and hors d'oeuvres, is available by reservation in advance (reserve by Friday, February 28). A post-concert party with dessert, coffee and wine is open to all ticket-holdersto meet the artists, obtain autographs and CD purchases. 

More about Luciana Souza can be found on her website www.lucianasouza.com

SCMC Spectacular Jazz Series Concerts remaining this Season

LUCIANA SOUZA BIO

Grammy winner Luciana Souza is one of Jazz’s leading singers and interpreters. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in the late sixties, she grew up in a family of Bossa Nova innovators - her father, a singer and songwriter, her mother, a poet and lyricist. Luciana’s work as a performer transcends traditional boundaries around musical styles, offering solid roots in jazz, sophisticated lineage in world music, and an enlightened approach to new music.

As a leader, Luciana Souza has been releasing acclaimed recordings since 2002 - including her six Grammy nominated records Brazilian Duos, North and South, Duos II, Tide, Duos III, and The Book of Chet. Her debut recording for Universal, The New Bossa Nova, was produced by her husband, Larry Klein, and was met with widespread critical acclaim. Luciana’s recordings also include two works based on poetry - The Poems of Elizabeth Bishop And Other Songs, and Neruda.

Speaking in Tongues, a collaboration with Lionel Loueke, Grégoire Maret, Massimo Biolcati and Kendrick Scott, also produced by Larry Klein. The recording is comprised of all original music and features Luciana’s musical setting of two poems by Leonard Cohen.

Ms. Souza has performed and recorded with greats including Herbie Hancock (on his Grammy winning record, River – The Joni Letters), Paul Simon, James Taylor, Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, Danilo Perez and many others. Her longstanding duo work with Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo has earned her accolades across the globe, and her complete discography contains more than 50 records as a side singer. Luciana Souza’s singing has been called "transcendental, "perfect, " and of "unparalleled beauty. " Entertainment Weekly writes, "Her voice traces a landscape of emotion that knows no boundaries. "

Luciana Souza has been a prominent soloist in two important works by composer Osvaldo Golijov – La Pasion According to St. Mark, and Oceana. She has performed with the Bach Akademie Stuttgart, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Other orchestral appearances include performances with the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and American Composers Orchestra. Her work in chamber music includes a fruitful collaboration with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and with composers Derek Bermel and Patrick Zimmerli.

Ms. Souza began her recording career at age three with a radio commercial, and recorded more than 200 jingles and soundtracks, becoming a first-call studio veteran at age sixteen. She spent four years on faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she received a Bachelor's in Jazz Composition. Ms. Souza earned a Master's degree in Jazz Studies from New England Conservatory of Music and taught for four years at Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. From 2005 to 2010, Luciana was the Jazz Artist in Residence with the prestigious San

Francisco Performances. In 2005 and 2013 Luciana was awarded Best Female Jazz Singer by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Billboard magazine has said of Luciana: “she continues her captivating journey as a uniquely talented vocalist who organically crosses genre borders. Her music soulfully reflects, wistfully regrets, romantically woos, joyfully celebrates...”