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Lena Seikaly


LENA SEIKALY is a fresh voice on the national jazz scene from Washington, D.C. Named “one of Washington’s preeminent jazz singers” and “brightest voices in jazz” (The Washington Post), as well as a “major league young talent in jazz” by Duke Ellington’s biographer, Dr. John Hasse, Lena is already making her mark as both a revivalist of traditional jazz vocals, as well as an innovator in contemporary vocal jazz styles. Originally from Falls Church, Virginia, she began her training at age four with piano, continued with classical voice in her teens, and went on to complete a B.M. in classical vocal performance at the University of Maryland School of Music. While attaining regional and national recognition for her classical vocal abilities – including two prestigious prizes from the National Society of Arts and Letters – it was in college where Lena discovered a strong passion for jazz, and embarked on a fervent education of jazz history, styles, theory and composition before pursuing a jazz career in the Washington D.C. area. In 2009, Lena was a participant at the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., where she studied closely with jazz giants Curtis Fuller, George Cables and Dr. Nathan Davis. She was also selected as a Strathmore artist-in-residence for the 2009-2010 season at Bethesda, Maryland’s renowned Strathmore Music Center. As the leader of her own trio, quartet and quintet, Lena has sold out performances at legendary D.C. institutions such as Blues Alley, the Strathmore Mansion, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, The Hamilton, Twins Jazz and various Smithsonian venues, among many others. As a vocalist with other ensembles, she has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival (The Netherlands), the Jazz Ascona Festival (Switzerland), the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee (CA), and was a participant at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass program directed by Christian McBride.

Lena has self-produced three albums in the past four years – “Written In The Stars” (2009), “Lovely Changes” (2011) and “Looking Back” (2013) – the latter two of which were released to sold-out shows at Blues Alley. All three received critical acclaim from music critics in leading D.C. online and print publications, garnering full-page, in-depth feature articles in the Washington Post and the Washington City Paper. Dubbed “the work of a supremely confident master of her instrument” (Washington City Paper), “Looking Back” features all music from the 1920s and ‘30s, includes liner notes by Dr.

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In Pictures

Lena Seikaly at the Attucks Theater

Read "Lena Seikaly at the Attucks Theater" reviewed by Mark Robbins


Lena Seikaly is not a household name... yet! The jny:Washington D.C. native has been called one of the “brightest voices in jazz" and her new fans at the sold out Attucks Theatre performance could not agree more. Classically trained as an operatic mezzo-soprano her phrasing, intonation, and full bodied tone is reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald. She is a natural storyteller so when she sings “You Don't Know What Love Is" you believe she knows the “meaning of the blues" or ...

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Festival

Sheryl Bailey, Lena Seikaly to Headline Second Annual Mel Bay Jazz Festival

Sheryl Bailey, Lena Seikaly to Headline Second Annual Mel Bay Jazz Festival

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Guitarist Sheryl Bailey and singer Lena Seikaly will headline the second annual Mel Bay Jazz Festival, which will take place Thursday, September 25 through Saturday, September 27 at four different venues in and around De Soto, MO. The NYC-based Bailey is a Berklee School of Music graduate who has released eight albums as a leader, the most recent being 2013's A Meeting Of Minds. Seikaly, who earned a degree in classical vocal performance at the University of Maryland, has released ...

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Recording

Lena Seikaly CD "Written in the Stars" Now Available Online!

Lena Seikaly CD "Written in the Stars" Now Available Online!

Source: All About Jazz

Lena Seikaly debut album, Written in the Stars, is finally available for sale!

The album contains six re-created jazz standards, including “East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)," “When I Fall in Love," “The Very Thought of You," “You Go to My Head" and others, as well as four original compositions, including the title track, “Written in the Stars."

The featured musicians on the album are: Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis (piano), Tom Baldwin (bass), David McDonald (drums), Bobby Muncy (sax), ...

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Event

Amerique Latine CD Release Party at Busboys & Poets, Washington D.C. - Feb. 6 @ 9:00 P.M.

Amerique Latine CD Release Party at Busboys & Poets, Washington D.C. - Feb. 6 @ 9:00 P.M.

Source: All About Jazz

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 6th 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. Band members: Guitar - Alex Martin Vocals - Lena Seikaly Bass - Leonardo Lucini Perc. - Alejandro Lucini Location: Buboys & Poets 1390 V St N.W. Washington, DC 20009 Album: Nostalgia for Terra Incognita Admission: $10 What do you get when you put together a Franco-American jazz guitarist, former novelist and ...

"...one of the local jazz scene’s most promising performers."– The Washington Post

"Lena Seikaly [is] one of the contenders for D.C.'s best singer, with a rich voice and precise articulation that belies her enormous creativity on the vocal." – Washington City Paper

"['Looking Back' is] the work of a supremely confident master of her instrument" - The Washington City Paper

"The lovely young D.C. vocalist Lena Seikaly is gaining a national reputation. Little wonder: her full-bodied voice has power and confidence far beyond her 24 years, and her litheness and control is incredible

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Primary Instrument

Vocals

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Private jazz & classical vocal instructor - please e-mail for rates and availability.

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