Bria Skonberg is a Canadian jazz trumpeter and vocalist.

Early life

Skonberg was born in

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

, British Columbia; her great-grandparents on her father's side came from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. She took piano lessons in elementary school, switching to trumpet in her early teens. During High School and college she appeared at numerous jazz festivals with The 51st Eight.The Education of Bria Skonberg https://syncopatedtimes.com/the-51st-eight-a-northern-light-the-education-of-bria-skonberg/ She also led the all-female Mighty Aphrodite Jazz Band. In 2006, she graduated from

Capilano University Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunshin ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

with a degree in jazz trumpet. She studied with Warren Vaché.

Career

Skonberg was the leader of Bria's Hot Five and The Big Bang Jazz Band. She also performed with Canadian jazz veteran

Dal Richards Dallas Murray Richards, CM, OBC (5 January 1918 – 31 December 2015) was a Canadian big band leader. Richards and his band performed in the Lower Mainland, at PNE bandstand and the annual New Year celebration at the Bayshore Hotel. The band ...

and his Orchestra in concert and on recordings. Skonberg has appeared as a band leader and guest artist at jazz festivals in North America, Europe, China and Japan. She moved to New York City in 2010. She was a co-founder of the New York Hot Jazz Festival. Skonberg has performed with

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He was the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and double bassist Martin Pizzarelli. He worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett (1971) ...

Howard Alden Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps. Early life How ...

, and

Wycliffe Gordon Wycliffe A. Gordon (born May 29, 1967) is an American jazz trombonist, arranger, composer, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. Gordon also sings and plays didgeridoo, trumpet, soprano trombone, tuba, and piano. ...

. Also wit
Shaye Cohn
In 2017 Skonberg won the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, for her crowd-funded album ''Bria''.

Awards and honors

* Jazz Award of Merit, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2006 * Kobe Jazz Street Award, Breda Jazz Festival, 2007 * Outstanding Jazz Artist, New York Bistro Award * Nomination, Artist of the Year, Jazz Journalists Association, 2013 * Swing! Award,

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center in New York City. The organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center in October 2004. Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director and the leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orches ...

, 2015 * Winner, Juno Award Jazz Vocal Album, 2017

Discography

* ''Fresh'' (Lighter Than Air, 2009) * ''So Is the Day'' (Random Act, 2012) * ''Into Your Own'' (Random Act, 2014) * ''Bria'' (

Sony Masterworks Sony Music Masterworks (Sony Masterworks) is a record label, the result of a restructuring of Sony Music's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterwor ...

, 2016) * ''With a Twist'' (Sony, 2017) * ''Nothing Never Happens'' (self-released, 2019)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skonberg, Bria Living people Canadian jazz trumpeters Canadian jazz composers Canadian women jazz singers Musicians from British Columbia People from Chilliwack Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year winners 21st-century trumpeters 21st-century Canadian women singers 1983 births Canadian people of Swedish descent Women trumpeters Canadian women composers Okeh Records artists