Lucy Wijnands

Now a recent graduate and the Ella Fitzgerald scholar at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase, Wijnands has been named the 1st place winner of the 4th annual Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition.

​Wijnands has drawn inspiration from Jazz Studies director Peter Malinverni, voice professor Alexis Cole, Ingrid Jensen and jazz icon, Jon Faddis, with whom she has performed at the Louis Armstrong Museum and Jazz Forum Arts, among other places. Wijnands has also received the 2020 President's Award for Achievement for the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music as well as a Downbeat Student Music Award as Outstanding Jazz Vocal Soloist. In the fall of 2020, Wijnands performed in Tokyo, Japan, serving as an ambassador for Purchase College as their Ella Fitzgerald Scholar and recipient of the President’s Award of Achievement.

Wijnands has completed a five month residency with the Birdland Big Band, directed by David Dejesus and has performed with musicians as acclaimed as Joe Lovano and Kenny Washington. In 2016, marking the beginning of her professional jazz studies, she appeared in concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, she got her start performing with her father, master of stride piano, Bram Wijnands. From a very young age, she sang with her father in many jazz clubs in Kansas City, including the Majestic Steakhouse, the Blue Room, Green Lady Lounge, as well as the Endless Mountain Musical Festival in Pennsylvania. In the summer of 2017, she and her father toured in Europe, enriching her musical scopes. The two toured together again in the Netherlands in the summer of 2019, including special performances at the Binnenhof in The Hague, followed by their duo debut at the Birdland Theater in New York. Once relocating from Kansas City to New York in 2013, Lucy studied with renowned vocalist, Anne Phillips. While attending Hastings High school, she participated in numerous school bands, musical productions and All-State jazz ensembles. She was nominated for a Maestro Award by the Philadelphia Heritage Festival in high school.

Wijnands is now working on her debut album, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” with an interdisciplinary approach to jazz music. Wijnands looks forward to keep creating, sharing and singing.

Awards

2021 Ella Fitzgerald 4th Annual Competition Winner 2020 President's Award of Achievement at Purchase College 2020 Downbeat Award for Outstanding Jazz Vocal Soloist 2019 Ella Fitzgerald Scholar at Purchase College

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