Erica Seguine

Erica Seguine is a composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, and educator living in the NYC area. In 2011 she co-founded, with composer Shon Baker, their 21-musician ensemble, the Erica Seguine/Shon Baker Orchestra (ESSBO.) Since then, they have performed all around NYC, including Birdland Jazz Club, the Jazz Gallery, Lunar Faire (a witchy/weird night market/festival), Culture Lab LIC, ShapeShifter Lab, Tea Lounge/Slope Lounge, Grace Church, and had a monthly residency for one year (2013) in Montclair, NJ. In 2017, New York Music Daily has said “In terms of majestic sweep, cinematic scope, and clever outside-of-the-box humor, it’s hard to think of a more interesting group in big band jazz...” They were also written about in a 2019 New York Times article by Giovanni Russonello about the current big band scene. In August 2019, the orchestra went into Oktaven Audio to record their debut album, with Darcy James Argue producing and Brian Montgomery engineering. It will be released March 31, 2023.

In addition to writing for and conducting the jazz orchestra, Erica is also the resident conductor and one of the resident composers of the Meetinghouse Jazz Orchestra, a big band that rehearses new music by emerging composers, as well as traditional big band repertoire, weekly in the city and puts on a few concerts annually. She is also a conductor with The D.O.M.E. Experience, a multimedia experience with dance, film, and studio orchestra, and has also conducted performances with Remy LeBoeuf’s Assembly of Shadows, Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the Joel Harrison Big Band, Sam Blakeslee’s Large Ensemble, and PJ Rasmussen’s Boardwalk Big Band, conducting at venues including: Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland Jazz Club, Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, the Jazz Gallery, City Winery NYC, and many more.

Erica’s compositions/arrangements have also been performed by many other ensembles, including the Metropole Orchestra (The Netherlands), the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, (Los Angeles), the Danish Radio Big Band (Denmark), the Brilliant Corners Large Ensemble (Japan), New York Youth Symphony Jazz (NYC), the J-Orchestra (NYC), the Millenium Jazz Orchestra (The Netherlands), the Zurich Jazz Orchestra (Switzerland), PJ Rasmussen’s Boardwalk Big Band (NYC), Greg Ruvolo’s Big Band (NYC), and many college ensembles. She received the 2013 BMI Foundation Charlie Parker Prize/2014 Manny Albam Commission for “The Ravine”/”...And the Tire Swing Keeps Spinning...”, three ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards, the 2014 ASCAP Foundation Johnny Mandel Prize for “Reel”, three ASCAP Plus Awards, and was one of 8 selected internationally to be part of the 2012 Metropole Orchestra Arranger’s Workshop under Vince Mendoza, with Kurt Elling as soloist.

Erica has been blessed to study under many inspiring teachers. She graduated with a BM in Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media- writing concentration from the Eastman School of Music in 2009, studying composing/arranging under Bill Dobbins and piano under Harold Danko and Tony Caramia. She continued her studies at William Paterson University, receiving an MM in Jazz Arranging in 2011, and studied composing/arranging with Jim McNeely and Rich DeRosa. She was also a member of the long-standing BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. Erica loves to champion new music, particularly in the big band scene, and passes her knowledge on to her own composition and piano students, teaching private lessons and was a Women In Jazz Organization (WIJO) mentor in 2019-2020. She is also a host with JazzComposersPresent.com, an organization that presents weekly composer spotlights and listening sessions from composers around the world for those wanting to learn more about the craft and process of Jazz Composition.

Awards

1st Place in the first biannual Zurich Jazz Orchestra Composition Competition ("Gray Sky" for big band)

Honorable Mention in the 2009 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards ("Departures" for big band)

Selected for the 2004 Young Composers Honors Concert held at the NYSSMA Winter Conference ("Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Piano")