NEW YORK VOICES
Friday, March 21, 2025 at 8 PM
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Audience Information
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The Schwartz Center wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.
Cover Design: Nicholas Surbey | Program Design: Bebe Rogers
Cover Photo by Sandrine Lee
CANDLER CONCERT SERIES
New York Voices
Friday, March 21, 2025, 8:00 p.m.
Emerson Concert Hall
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
This concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts and is made possible by a generous gift from the late Flora Glenn Candler, a friend and patron of music at Emory University.
Program
Tonight’s selections will be announced from the stage.
New York Voices
New York Voices was born in the mid-1980s at upstate New York’s Ithaca College. Peter Eldridge, an aspiring jazz pianist who came late to singing; Kim Nazarian, who dreamed of a life on Broadway; and Darmon Meader, a saxophonist and self-described “choral geek,” came together in the school’s vocal jazz ensemble. Director Dave Riley included all three of them, as well as Caprice Fox, in an ensemble he’d been invited to bring on a tour of European jazz festivals. “It seemed to go over so well that Darmon and I decided to keep it going, try to make something happen professionally,” Eldridge recalls. “Kim and Caprice were part of that original band, and we slowly but surely made the transition to New York City in 1988.” There they met Sara Krieger, who became the fifth member of the band Riley had named “New York Voices.”
Krieger left the band after their second album, which began a long, arduous search for a new fifth voice. While that process was underway, Eldridge had what was intended as a one-off songwriting session with Lauren Kinhan; impressed with her soprano vocal, he suggested she audition. “We’d heard maybe 70 auditions and hadn’t found the right fit,” says Eldridge. “Lauren came in and sang ‘God Bless the Child’ for us, and I remember looking at Darmon and going, ‘Oh. Okay.’”
After two more years as a quintet, Fox moved on to other things in 1994. The band had hoped that featuring five voices would stave off comparisons to vocal-jazz powerhouse The Manhattan Transfer (it didn’t), but their increasing self-confidence—and their difficulty in finding Kinhan—led them to decide to continue on as a foursome.
The geographical distance that these jobs require, along with each member’s active solo pursuits, is partly responsible for the long gap between albums. “I’m really proud of our longevity, which just surprises and shocks all of us; the fact that our music has grown and gotten better; and the fact that we all still want to make music together,” says Nazarian. “We’re not done yet. We all have a little something more to say together.”
Individually, the four members are involved in a variety of projects including solo performances and recordings, teaching, writing, and arranging.
Performer Biographies
Kim Nazarian
Kim Nazarian is a world-renowned, Grammynominated jazz performing and recording artist, educator, and clinician. Besides her work as a soughtafter solo vocalist, she has been performing all over the world with the vocal group New York Voices (NYV), for more than thirty-five years. She is a jazz voice teacher for Vocal Jazz majors at both Ithaca College and SUNY Fredonia. She also shares her perspectives on music and life as a musician, teaching private students in her own personal studio, as well as offering clinics, workshops, and masterclasses, adjudicating festivals, participating in jazz camps, and guest conducting for singers on all levels in the United States and abroad.
One of Nazarian’s most recent accolades was being awarded the “Jazz Educator of the Year 2023” by the JEN organization. She is the first female and the first vocal jazz recipient of this prestigious honor. In the summer of 2022, she also became the first woman to head the jury of the A Cappella Competition in Aarhus, Denmark. Continuing to climb the professional ladder, Nazarian has added Artistic Director to her list of titles, working with the established team of the DeMiero Jazz Festival. Harkening her heritage, Nazarian was recognized as one of the top fifty most influential Armenian artists in 2012 and was inducted into her hometown high school’s Hall of Fame. She is also proud to be the lead vocalist for the Latin influenced jazz ensemble “El Eco,” spearheaded by Argentinian drummer and composer Guillermo Nojechowicz; and appears as a featured vocalist on the two latest CDs of Gabriel Espinosa.
Besides the many recordings of NYV, Nazarian can be heard on many different projects as a soloist. Branching out on her own in 2015, she released her first solo CD entitled Some Morning with remarkable guests including Paquito D’Rivera, Gary Burton, John Pizzarelli, and Sean Jones. Her record was met with critical acclaim stating: “This set sets the gold standard for Jazz vocalists” from Midwest Records, Chris Spector, and Best Jazz Vocal CD 2015 from W. Royal Stokes, jazz historian and critic. Nazarian is proud to be one of the featured voices on Bobby McFerrin’s VOCAbuLarieS CD which garnered three Grammy nominations. She also collaborated with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the Manchester Craftman’s Guild on a concert tour dedicated to the late, great Ella Fitzgerald. Nazarian’s work as a lyricist can be heard on the NYV CDs and in other projects throughout the world, including Brazilian composer Ivan Lins and the
Metropole Orchestra. Most notably, Nazarian wrote “World of Possibilities,” the title track to the accompanying CD of Bill Strickland’s best selling book Making the Impossible Possible.
Nazarian is a dedicated teacher of vocal technique and the art of ensemble singing and a highly valued clinician at numerous vocal festivals around the world. She has been representing the United States as a judge for the International A Cappella Competition “Vokal.Total” in Graz, Austria since 2011, was a member of the 2017 jury at Vocal Asia, worked with a highly acclaimed jury in Korea, and has recently become a regular coach at the groundbreaking Black Forest Voices Festival. Touring the globe over the last thirty-five years, Nazarian has given concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and the Montreal International Jazz Festival, to name a select few. Furthermore, she has conducted several All State Vocal Jazz Choirs for New York, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Maine, California, and Illinois. Nazarian is a magna cum laude graduate of Ithaca College and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. When not making music, she loves to be home on her farm in Oberlin, Ohio, with her husband, son, and sheep-a-doodle, Doxy, cooking, gardening, reading, and watching films.
Peter Eldridge
For years Peter Eldridge has remained at the forefront of both the singer-songwriter and jazz realms as a vocalist, pianist, composer, and arranger. He has four critically acclaimed albums: Stranger in Town, Fool No More, Decorum, and Mad Heaven. His latest studio project, Disappearing Day, was released in July 2016 on Sunnyside Records and called “an out and out masterpiece” by AllAboutJazz. Disappearing Day made many “best of the year” lists, including Downbeat, Jazziz, and NPR. Some of Eldridge’s current projects include his first full-fledged musical with the working title of The Woman in Question, co-written with Chicago playwright Cheryl Coons about the life, loves, and art of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt; an upcoming recording of ballads with string orchestra and jazz trio, featuring pianist/arranger Kenny Werner and cellist Eugene Friesen; and Foolish Hearts, an acoustic duo featuring Eldridge with bassist Matt Aronoff. Eldridge is also a founding member of internationally acclaimed vocal group, New York Voices. The group continues to tour internationally and has performed in some of the world’s most preeminent venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and has been involved in two Grammy Award–winning projects with Paquito D’Rivera and the Count Basie Orchestra. New York Voices has completed two new
collaborative albums released in 2018, one with the Bob Mintzer Big Band and the other with Brazilian singer/songwriter Ivan Lins and the Danish Radio Big Band. On the more contemporary side, Eldridge is also a member of the vocal group MOSS, alongside Kate McGarry, Theo Bleckmann, Lauren Kinhan, and Luciana Souza (and now vocalist Jo Lawry). Some of his notable collaborations include Bobby McFerrin, Fred Hersch, Becca Stevens, Chanticleer, George Benson, Michael Brecker, David Byrne, Jonatha Brooke, Kurt Elling, the New West Guitar Trio, Jane Monheit, the Swingles, Anat Cohen, Betty Buckley, Janis Siegel, Paula Cole, Jon Hendricks, and Mark Murphy. His music is featured in Zach Galifianakis’ recorded stand-up performance “Live at the Purple Onion,” and his original songs or collaborations have been covered by artists such as Nancy Wilson, Paquito D’Rivera, and Jane Monheit. This past spring, Eldridge was commissioned by the Boston choral group Coro Allegro to write a piece for its twenty-fifth anniversary (to be nobody, text by e e cummings). In addition, he was head of the Manhattan School of Music’s jazz voice department for eighteen years and is now part of the voice faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He is regularly in demand for workshops and masterclasses both domestically and internationally, in topics ranging from vocal technique and song interpretation to songwriting and arranging.
Lauren Kinhan
Vocalist and composer Lauren Kinhan has been creating genre-merging music for over thirty years as evidenced on her four solo CDs of originals, Circle in a Square, Avalon and Hardly Blinking and her most recent all standard collection, A Sleepin’ Bee. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, her singer/ songwriter narrative showcases poetry and storytelling that draws upon the world and people around her, current events and politics, and her passion for women empowering activism. Kinhan speaks truth to power and takes great passion in mentoring the next generation to seek and find their unique voice. It all began when legendary producer Phil Ramone scouted and immediately signed Kinhan in 1998. Ramone called her “a true songstress” producing her debut outing Hardly Blinking. The sophomore follow up, Avalon, is flush full of poetry and a crossover from young artist to motherhood. The critically acclaimed Circle in a Square (2014) and A Sleepin’ Bee (2017) were released on her Dotted i Records. Partnering with eight-time Grammy Award–winning Elliot Scheiner, these outings are sonically rich with a long list of musicians that showcase the grace and maturity of time and age. Circle in a Square, another collection of poignant and prophetic originals, and A Sleepin’ Bee pay tribute to
the great jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson.
Versatility as a musician made it possible for Kinhan’s voice and craft to find other homes for her gifts, namely her thirty-plus year partnership with New York Voices. Joining the band in 1992, she jumped into an already signed and touring group and got busy adapting to life as an international touring fourheaded artist. NYV’s strong interest in Kinhan’s songwriting can be heard on their releases over the years as well as her powerful interpretive singing and arranging acumen. The New York Voices’ legendary contribution to the fourpart close harmony genre has made them one of the top contributors to this art form, allowing them to record and tour with so many extraordinary artists including The Count Basie Orchestra, Paquito D’Rivera, Ivan Lins, The Manhattan Transfer, Jon Hendricks, and the Boston Pops, to name a few.
Additionally, co-founding two other super groups, Moss and JaLaLa, Kinhan’s vocal prowess, songwriting, and arranging took more shape and forged important friendships and collaborators. Made up of some of jazz’s top vocalists, Luciana Souza, Theo Bleckmann, Kate McGarry, Jo Lawry, Peter Eldridge, and Kinhan, Moss grew their own signature sound and created a cult following that is still awaiting their sophomore release. They occasionally tour and do special guest artist teaching, carrying on their unique point of view. And JaLaLa, abbreviated for Janis Siegel, Laurel Massé—both from The Manhattan Transfer— and Kinhan, released their tribute to Johnny Mercer, That Old Mercer Magic, in 2009.
In 2018, Janis Siegel and Kinhan began curating a monthly live vocal centric salon called Vocal Mania, made up of amazing singing talents from near and far and showcasing them at either Birdland Theater or the Zinc Bar. This popular event became a wonderful place to hear stars and unknowns alike and celebrate the diverse and colourful expression of the vocal arts. When the pandemic hit, they took this idea, rebranded it and launched Vocal Gumbo, an online monthly program featuring artists who were stuck at home. To learn more about Vocal Gumbo, visit VocalGumbo.com.
Beyond all these projects, Kinhan continues to co-write and set lyrics to songs for other artists and has her sights set on a new recording project of her original music in 2025. Among some of Kinhan’s many notable guest artist appearances, you can hear her voice featured on the multi Grammy-nominated Bobby McFerrin epic project VOCAbuLaireS and Ornette Coleman’s 1996 release Sound Museum, Three Women.
Kinhan joined the faculty at New York University in 2018, co-directing the vocal jazz and contemporary vocal ensemble Village Voices with The Manhattan Transfer’s Janis Siegel. In the fall of 2024, Kinhan began teaching the masters Jazz Voice program at Queen’s College’s Aaron Copland School of Music. She also teaches at The New School and runs her own private voice studio. She served on the Board of Governors for the Recording Academy’s New York Chapter from 2008–2010 and is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. To learn more about Kinhan, visit Laurenkinhan.com.
Darmon Meader
Recognized in both the jazz vocal and instrumental worlds, Darmon Meader is a highly respected vocalist, arranger, and saxophonist. Meader has achieved international recognition as the founder, musical director, chief arranger, composer, producer, saxophonist, and vocalist with New York Voices. As a member of New York Voices, he has released numerous recordings on the GRP, RCA/Victor, Concord, and MCGJazz labels. In 2013, NYV released two new CDs: New York Voices, Live with the WDR Big Band Cologne and their long-awaited Christmas CD, Let it Snow, both of which feature Meader’s extensive arranging skills. In 2008, he released his much anticipated debut solo CD, And So Am I, and in 2023 he released his long awaited follow up, Losing My Mind. These solo projects are collections of jazz standards and original works, which reflect his varied interests and skills as a singer, saxophonist, writer, and arranger.
With New York Voices, Meader has collaborated with a variety of artists including Ray Brown, Mark Murphy, Bernadette Peters, Ivan Lins, Bob Dorough, Don Sebesky, Nancy Wilson, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jim Hall, Paquito D’Rivera, and the Count Basie Orchestra. He has toured internationally, performing at renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Blue Note Jazz Clubs (New York and Japan). In addition to Meader’s New York Voices touring and recording commitments, he is increasingly busy as a soloist, sideman, studio musician, and composer. Meader continues to be actively involved in music education, working as a clinician and guest artist at both the high school and university levels.
Meader has been the guest conductor for numerous All State Jazz Ensembles and has made artist-in-residence appearances at various schools, including Northwestern University, University of Louisville, University of Miami, Humber College, Columbia College, University of Georgia, and University of North Texas. Meader has also taught at numerous domestic and international music workshops including the Inzigkoven Vocal Jazz Workshop in Germany, various IAJE Teacher’s Training Institutes, the Western Michigan University Vocal Jazz Camp, the Vocal Pop & Jazz Days workshop in the Netherlands, the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camp, and the NYV Vocal Jazz Camps. Many of Meader’s choral, vocal jazz, and instrumental arrangements are available through the following publishers: Carl Fischer Music, Shawnee Press, Hal Leonard, Alfred Music, Belwin Mills, and UNC JazzPress.
The Flora Glenn Candler Concerts Committee
Elena Cholakova, Committee Chair | Department of Music
Rachael Brightwell, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Greg Catelier, Emory Dance and Movement Studies Program
Joseph Crespino, Department of History
Stephen Crist, Department of Music
Sara Culpepper, Theater Emory
Patricia Dinkins-Matthews, Department of Music
Allison Dykes, Vice President and University Secretary
Rosemary Magee, Member Emeritus
Bethany Mamola, Department of Music
Pablo Palomino, Oxford College, Department of Humanities
Emorja Roberson, Oxford College, Department of Humanities
Upcoming Schwartz Center Concerts
Visit schwartz.emory.edu to view complete event information. If a ticket is required for attendance, prices are indicated in the listings below in the following order: Full price/Emory student price (unless otherwise noted).
Saturday, March 22, 8:00 p.m., The Old and the New, ECMSA: Emerson Series Waits Chamber Music Concert, Cannon Chapel
Sunday, March 23, 4:00 p.m., Just Jazzin’ Around with the Gary Motley Trio, ECMSA: Family Series, Carlos Museum, Ackerman Hall
Sunday, March 23, 7:00 p.m., Emory Collaborative Piano, Performing Arts Studio
Tuesday, March 25, 8:00 p.m., Emory Jazz Combos, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall
Friday, March 28, noon, The Rites of Spring, ECMSA: Cooke Noontime Series, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall
Schwartz Center Staff
Rachael Brightwell, Managing Director
Terry Adams, Box Office Coordinator
Stacey Cimowsky, Program Coordinator
Kathryn Colegrove, Assoc. Director for Programming and Outreach
Lewis Fuller, Associate Director for Production and Operations
Jennifer Kimball, Assistant Stage Manager
Jeffrey Lenhard, Operations Assistant
Matt Mattson, Senior Multimedia Developer
Brenda Porter, House Manager
Bebe Rogers, Communications Specialist
Alan Strange, Box Office Manager
Nicholas Surbey, Senior Graphic Designer
Alexandria Sweatt, Marketing Assistant
Mark Teague, Stage Manager
The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts offers a variety of classical, jazz, and crossover music each season. Visit schwartz.emory.edu for more event details and up-to-date information.
Next in the Candler Concert Series
Imani Winds & Boston Brass
Friday, April 11, 8:00 pm | Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall
The dynamic and adventurous Imani Winds rejoin forces with longtime friends Boston Brass in a brand-new collaboration. The artists’ Schwartz Center debut features each group separately and collaboratively, with works by Khachaturian and Bach, modern masters D’Rivera and Simon, and culminating with a performance of a newly commissioned work by musical icon Arturo Sandoval.
Photos: Imani Winds by Shervin Lainez, Boston Brass by Allison Bridger
CANDLER CONCERT SERIES 2025-2026
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Cameron Carpenter, organ
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Vikingur Ólafsson, piano
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Emory Jazz Fest 2026
Schwartz Artist in Residence
Friday, February 6, 2026 at 8 PM
Sphinx Virtuosi with Sterling Elliott, cello
Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 8 PM
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Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 8 PM
Catalyst Quartet with J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano and Terrence Wilson, piano
Friday, April 10, 2026 at 8 PM