Faculty Jazz Performance with guest artist Luciana Souza

LUCIANA SOUZA : JAZZARTIST- IN-RESIDENCE

Grammy award winning vocalist and instrumentalist, Luciana Souza, is the Department of Music’s 2019Jazz Artist-in-Residence. During her residency, she will deliver masterclasses for vocalists and instrumentalists as well as coach small jazz ensembles.
This jam session offers a unique opportunity to hear Souza in performance with faculty members in the Department of Music’s jazz program. Admission is free.
About the Artist
LUCIANA SOUZA
Grammy winner Luciana Souza is one of Jazz’s leading singers and interpreters. Born in São Paulo,
Brazil, Ms. Souza 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. Of her 2015 release, Speaking
in Tongues, The New York Times said: “Luciana Souza has used her voice as an instrument of empathy
and intimacy, cultural linkage and poetic disquisition… singing wordlessly but with full expressive
intent.”
Ms. Souza has performed and recorded with luminaries 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 sixty 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.” Of her work with the chamber music ensemble, A Far Cry, the Boston Globe said: “Her
performance was more than beautiful. It was consolatory, and true to the work’s air of ultimate things.”
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, the Atlanta Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the American Composers Orchestra. Her work in chamber
music includes a fruitful collaboration with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, composers Derek Bermel,
Patrick Zimmerli, and the five composers of The Blue Hour – Rachel Grimes, Angelica Negrón, Shara
Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snyder – a setting of a poem by Carolyn Forché.
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. Ms. Souza continues to teach Master
Classes all over the world.
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…”