Gunilla T?rnfeldt

Born: June 19, 1980

Gunilla Törnfeldt is a jazz vocalist, composer, and educator based in Stockholm. Her career took off in 2002, when she began performing with leading Swedish jazz artists including Monica Dominique Quintet, Carl-Axel Dominique Trio, Georg Riedel, Jan Allan, and Ove Lundin. Since then, she has become a distinctive voice on the Swedish jazz scene as a singer, composer, and arranger. In 2006, she was awarded the Fasching Friends’ Scholarship for “seriously and with strong dedication striving to renew and develop jazz music and related genres.” Her critically acclaimed solo debut A Time for Everything (2009) was followed by Behind the Mask (2017).

Chelsea McBride

Born: January 15, 1992

Driven by an endless need for expressing herself creatively, composer and multi-instrumentalist Chelsea McBride is establishing herself as a mainstay of the Canadian and American jazz scenes. Now based between Miami and Vancouver, McBride made her first international trip guest conducting at the 2019 Perth International Jazz Festival and Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival in support of her recent big band recording, Aftermath. She successfully completed an 11-city cross-Canada tour with her big band, Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School, in the summer of 2018, and has performed at JazzYYC, the Halifax Jazz Festival, and the TD Toronto Jazz Festival among others. She has been named one of Canada’s top 35 jazz musicians under 35 by the CBC and was the inaugural recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Emerging Jazz Artist Award.

Erez Aviram

The Erez Aviram Ensemble is a unique group consisting of eight versatile musicians from New York City led by composer and pianist Erez Aviram. The ensemble, combining traditional orchestral instruments with a powerful rhythm and horn sections, creates a bridge between the written and the improvised, skipping flawlessly between genres and modes to produce intellectual and emotive music.

Since its inception, the ensemble has become a rising force in the chamber jazz scene, performing in New York City.
Following the recording and filming of their debut EP, the ensemble delivered a sold-out performance at the 2023 Rochester Jazz Festival, and were picked to perform at Chamber Music America's Showcase in Times Square, NYC on January 2024.

Jenny Hill

Born: March 7

Jenny Hill is a versatile jazz saxophonist, flautist, composer, and arranger based in New York City. She leads the jazz sextet Liquid Horn, known for blending jazz with South American and Caribbean rhythms, and has released multiple albums, including "Floating," "Groove Garden," "The Chill Factor," "Planet Sax," and "Liquid Horn." She was a winner of the Chamber Music America Performance Plus grant in 2023, and also the ArtsWestchester Arts Alive grant.

Jenny Hill Jazz

Michael Clement

Born: February 24, 1994

Michael Clement is a pianist and composer known for his versatility in jazz, contemporary, and cinematic music. A UNT One O’Clock Lab Band alumnus, he was featured on the band's acclaimed album Lab 2019 and has performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, including programs featuring film scores and guest artists such as Capathia Jenkins and Take 6. His musicianship has earned him First Prize at the Ravenscroft International Jazz Piano Competition and the Yamaha Award at the American Jazz Pianist Competition. An in-demand soloist and sideman, Clement is recognized for his expressive touch, deep rhythmic sensibility, and storytelling approach to improvisation.

Sarah Younker

Uriel Pascucci

The Argentinian pianist Uriel Pascucci is laureate of international piano competitions. During 2021 he has released a CD Album with piano works by Beethoven, Mussorgsky and one of his own compositions through iMD-classics label. In addition, he has recorded a transcription for solo piano of a tango by Astor Piazzolla to tribute the centenary of this great Argentinian composer. He frequently premieres recordings of his own compositions. Uriel Pascucci's recordings are available to listen on the main digital platforms.

Uriel Pascucci has performed several concerts and tours in Argentina, United States, France, Spain, Italy, England, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, including a London Debut concert at the Royal Albert Hall, Elgar Room, in England, as well as performances at the Auditorio Juan Victoria in San Juan, the Teatro Independencia in Mendoza, Argentina, the Petit Palau at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Spain, the Mozarthaus Vienna in Austria and the Historisches Kaufhaus Freiburg in Germany. He has performed in the “Young Talents” Cycle of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo´s Orchestra (OSUNCuyo), in Argentina, at the concert cycles in Barcelona held by the Center of Piano Studies (“Centro de Estudios Pianisticos” - CEP), at the 2nd Cycle of Argentinian Performers (“2do Ciclo Musical de Intérpretes Argentinos”) in Madrid, Spain, at the concert cycles in Museum Manuel De Falla in Argentina, the Wesley Series in Bella Vista and at the NWA Classical Piano Concert Series in USA.

Yoshie Nakayama

Born: March 24, 1980

Yoshie Nakayama, a music producer, trombonist, and singer, is known for co-founding Songs for World Peace, a global initiative leveraging music to promote world peace. 

Her a cappella composition "Sing For You" led the UNIVOZ Vocal Ensemble to win in the Adult category on WBGH’s “Sing That Thing!” and its music video was premiered at the Global Voices Film Festival San Francisco 2021, hosted by UN Women San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.

Her arrangements are housed in the Japanese Library of Congress in Tokyo and are published by Sheet Music Plus, Fairy Inc., and the Jazz Vocalist Society of Japan.

M��rio Franco

Born: October 20, 1965

Born in 1965, he started music lessons at the age of 4 in Centro de Estudos Gregorianos.

He studied music theory with Maria José Godinho and after moved to Academia de Amadores de Música where he continued his studies in music theory with Cristina Brito da Cruz, started to study double bass and chamber music with Fernando Flores and composition with Pedro Rocha.

In 1986-87 attended double-bass courses given by Ludwig Streicher in Estoril and in 1988 won 1st prize in the Prémio Jovens Músicos (Young Musicians Competition); later became a member of Orquestra Sinfónica Juvenil where he worked on classical repertory with conductor Christopher Bochmann.

Karsten Bagge

Born: April 18, 1971

Born in 1971, Karsten Bagge is a drummer, composer and bandleader with a career spanning more than two decades, playing with a host of top performers in his native Denmark as well as abroad. His rhythmic prowess and creativity on the drums has been the heartbeat of numerous musical projects in the world of jazz and beyond, leaving an indelible mark on the music scene. His compositions are a testament to his creative vision, blending genres and pushing boundaries. In addition to his contributions as a performer, Karsten Bagge has played a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of musicians