Victor Noriega (born May 5, 1978) is an American jazz pianist.

Biography

Noriega was born in Vancouver on May 5, 1978.Victor Noriega at ''All About Jazz''
, June 16, 2006 He moved from Canada to the United States with his family soon after birth, and grew up in both

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, and Seattle. He began his jazz piano career at age 18. He graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies.Coastal Jazz profile of Victor Noriega
/ref> Since 2000, Noriega has played regularly with the Victor Noriega Trio, which additionally includes bassist Willie Blair and drummer Eric Eagle. They have recorded three albums together: ''Stone's Throw'' in 2004, ''Alay'' in 2006, and ''Fenceless'' (which also featured trumpet player Jay Thomas and alto saxophone player Mark Taylor) in 2008. ''Stone's Throw'' earned the trio a nomination for the ''

Earshot Jazz Earshot Jazz is a regional jazz non-profit organization in Seattle, Washington. It brings jazz musicians and enthusiasts from the greater Seattle area and around the Pacific Northwest to create an energetic and lively jazz community that wants to k ...

'' Golden Ear Awards for Northwest Acoustic Jazz Group in 2005. ''Alay'', which featured jazz renditions of traditional

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

songs, won Noriega the 2006 Golden Ear Awards for both Northwest Instrumentalist of the Year and Recording of the Year. He has played occasionally in Shanghai since 2005, performing at venues such as JZ Club. Noriega was commissioned by the

Oakland East Bay Symphony The Oakland East Bay Symphony (OEBS) is a leading orchestra based in Oakland, California. Michael Morgan held the position of music director and conductor from September 1990 until his death in August 2021. The Paramount Theatre has been the hom ...

to write a symphony for orchestra as part of their "Notes from the Philippines" series. The resulting work, ''Generations, Directions'', was premiered by the Oakland East Bay Symphony in April 2012. Noriega's musical style has been compared to that of

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

and Brad Mehldau.Stone's Throw review
Jason West, ''All About Jazz'', May 8, 2004 Noriega also teaches jazz piano at Jean Lyons School of Music in Vancouver.

Discography

* ''Stone's Throw'' (Victor Noriega, 2004) * ''Alay'' (Victor Noriega, 2006) * ''Fenceless'' (Pony Boy, 2008)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noriega, Victor 1978 births Living people 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American pianists American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists American musicians of Filipino descent Canadian emigrants to the United States Musicians from Vancouver University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni