Primary Instrument: Trumpet
New York-based trumpeter/vocalist/songwriter Bria Skonberg has been performing for over 20 years. Originally from Chilliwack, BC Canada, she has been a bandleader and guest artist all over North America, Europe, China and Japan. Best known for her knowledge of classic jazz and pursuit of worldwide fun, she is creating a style all her own rooted in swampy New Orleans and blues with swing, pop and world music influences.
Bria has garnered several accolades: In July of 2009 she was selected for the International Young Artists’ Showcase at the Jazz a Juan Festival in Antibes, France; she received the CBC Jazz Award of Merit (2006); and she was presented the Kobe Jazz Street Friendship Award at the Breda Jazz Festival in Holland in 2007. Early in 2008 Bria represented the “Next Generation of Jazz” as a guest on Riverwalk Jazz with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. She was proud to be a featured performer in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Paralympic Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Since moving to New York she has appeared in concert halls and clubs like Symphony Space, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola and Birdland alongside the likes of Bucky Pizzarelli, Nicholas Payton, Vince Giordano, Wycliffe Gordon, Howard Alden and Scott Robinson.
She is an active advocate for young musicians, serving as a teacher, clinician and performer at several venues and band camps as well as programming, narrating and performing educational shows for students from K through College. Bria was also on the Board of Directors for her annual hometown Chilliwack Jazz Festival.
Bria’s American debut album, “SO IS THE DAY,” will be released on Random Act Records in the Spring of 2012. The session highlights her original songs and arrangements, and features musical luminaries Victor Goines, Wycliffe Gordon and John Pizzarelli.
