Sullivan Fortner

For the past decade, Sullivan Fortner (piano) has been stretching his deeply rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader, and uncompromising individualist. The Grammy Award-winning artist out of New Orleans has received international praise as both a key player and producer for his collaborative work on The Window, alongside Cécile McLorin Salvant. As a solo leader, he has released Moments Preserved and Aria to critical acclaim.

In addition to associations with such diverse voices as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles, and John Scofield, Fortner’s frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Fred Hersch, and the late Roy Hargrove. Recent collaborations include Grammy-nominated releases Dear Love (Empress Legacy) and Generations from leaders Jazzmeia Horn and the Baylor Project, respectively.

A brilliant improviser, Fortner has performed across the country and throughout the world at such cultural institutions as Snug Harbor, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Lorraine’s, and the Jazz Playhouse in New Orleans, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Standard, and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City. He has appeared at celebrated festivals including Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C, and Gillmore Keyboard. In 2019, Fortner brought his band to the historic Village Vanguard for a week-long engagement he would reprise in 2020 as a virtual performance during lockdown.

Raised in New Orleans, Fortner began playing piano at age seven, following a storied lineage of improvisers, masters of time, and every iteration of the blues. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music from Oberlin Conservatory and his master’s in jazz performance from Manhattan School of Music (MSM). A champion of mentorship, Fortner has offered master classes at MSM, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Purdue University, Lafayette Summer Music Workshop, Belmont University, and Oberlin Conservatory, where he held a faculty position. Both his works and his insights have been featured in iconic publications such as the New York Times and The Root. Honors include the 2015 Cole Porter Fellowship awarded by the American Pianists Association, a Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the 2016 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, and, in 2020, the prestigious Shifting Foundation Grant for artistic career development.