Program Notes
Bria Skonberg

Streaming Premiere
Thursday, January 7, 2021, 7pm

Filmed exclusively for Cal Performances at the Louis Armstrong House Museum Garden, Queens, New York City, on August 21, 2020.

www.briaskonberg.com
@briaskonberg

Note: following its premiere, the video recording of this concert will be available on demand through April 7, 2021.

BRIA SKONBERG, trumpet and vocals

New York-based and Canadian-born singer, trumpeter, and songwriter Bria Skonberg has been described as one of the “most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” (The Wall Street Journal). Skonberg has stormed onto the jazz scene with her smoky vocals, blistering trumpet, and compelling compositions and arrangements. The Juno Award winner has sung the music of Aretha Franklin alongside Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, played with U2 at the iconic Apollo Theater, sat in with the Dave Matthews Band, was a featured guest with Jon Batiste, performed as part of the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour, and sang the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden for a New York Rangers game.

Skonberg’s fall 2019 album, Nothing Never Happens, offers striking originals and creative covers of Queen, the Beatles, Duke Ellington, and more. Produced by Grammy Award winner Eli Wolf, Nothing Never Happens invites listeners to join Skonberg in diverting attention from the overload of social media, breaking news, political bickering, and negative energy, with a stunning album that at times channels the ubiquitous anger and hopelessness that confronts us all in the modern media landscape, but at others manages to drown out that white noise and shine a light on the serene and the celebratory. Described by Skonberg as being “grittier, bluesy-er, and funkier,” than her previous albums, its sounds are inspired by Tom Waits, Duke Ellington, and Memphis Soul.

Management: Randy Henner, Metamorphic Concerts & Management
Production: Christine Vaindirlis, Ubuntu World Music

louisarmstronghouse.org

CREDITS

For Ibis Productions, Inc.
Jeremy Robins, Director and Editor
Zach Herchen, Audio Engineer
Ian Dudley, Camera Operator
Nara Garber, Camera Operator
Kharon Benson, Camera Operator
Francis Adjei, Camera Operator
Josue Flores, Production Assistant
Edwin Huet, Audio Assistant

For Cal Performances at Home
Tiffani Snow, Producer
Jeremy Little, Technical Director

For Ibis Productions, Inc.
Jeremy Robins, Video Director
Zach Herchen, Audio Engineer

For Future Tense Media
Jesse Yang, Creative Director

For Cal Performances
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Jeremy Geffen, Executive and Artistic Director
Kelly Brown, Executive Assistant to the Director

ADMINISTRATION
Andy Kraus, Director of Strategy and Administration
Calvin Eng, Chief Financial Officer
Rafael Soto, Finance Specialist
Marilyn Stanley, Finance Specialist
Gawain Lavers, Applications Programmer
Ingrid Williams, IT Support Analyst
Sean Nittner, Systems Administrator

ARTISTIC PLANNING
Katy Tucker, Director of Artistic Planning
Robin Pomerance, Artistic Administrator

DEVELOPMENT
Taun Miller Wright, Chief Development Officer
Elizabeth Meyer, Director of Institutional Giving
Jennifer Sime, Associate Director of Development, Individual Giving
Jamie McClave, Individual Giving and Special Events Officer
Alex Higgins, Director of Annual Fund
Jocelyn Aptowitz, Major Gifts Associate

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
Rica Anderson, Interim Director, Artistic Literacy

HUMAN RESOURCES
Judy Hatch, Human Resources Director
Shan Whitney, Human Resources Generalist

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Jenny Reik, Director of Marketing and Communications
Ron Foster-Smith, Associate Director of Marketing
Mark Van Oss, Communications Editor
Louisa Spier, Public Relations Manager
Cheryl Games, Digital Platform Program Manager
Jeanette Peach, Public Relations Senior Associate
Elise Chen, Email Production Associate
Lynn Zummo, New Technology Coordinator
Terri Washington, Social Media and Digital Content Specialist

OPERATIONS
Jeremy Little, Production Manager
Alan Herro, Production Admin Manager
Kevin Riggall, Head Carpenter
Matt Norman, Head Electrician
Tom Craft, Audio/Video Department Head
Jo Parks, Video Engineer
Tiffani Snow, Event Manager
Ginarose Perino, Rental Business Manager
Rob Bean, Event Operations Manager

STAGE CREW
Charles Clear, Senior Scene Technician
David Ambrose, Senior Scene Technician
Jacob Heule, Senior Scene Technician
Jorg Peter “Winter” Sichelschmidt, Senior Scene Technician
Joseph Swails, Senior Scene Technician
Mark Mensch, Senior Scene Technician
Mathison Ott, Senior Scene Technician
Mike Bragg , Senior Scene Technician
Ricky Artis, Senior Scene Technician
Robert Haycock, Senior Scene Technician

STUDENT MUSICAL ACTIVITIES
Mark Sumner, Director, UC Choral Ensembles
Bill Ganz, Associate Director, UC Choral Ensembles
Matthew Sadowski, Director, Cal Marching Band
Ted Moore, Director, UC Jazz Ensembles
Brittney Nguyen, SMA Coordinator

TICKET OFFICE
Liz Baqir, Ticket Services Manager
Gordon Young, Assistant Ticket Office Manager
Sherice Jones, Assistant Ticket Office Manager
Jeffrey Mason, Patron Services Associate

Opening fanfare used by permission from Jordi Savall from his 2015 recording of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo on Alia Vox.

Major support for the Cal Performances Digital Classroom is provided by Wells Fargo.
Major support for Beyond the Stage is provided by Bank of America.

calperformances.org

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