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Rosana Eckert

With an international presence as a masterful vocalist, deep improviser, versatile songwriter, and a tasteful arranger, Origin artist Rosana Eckert captivates with her originality, sincerity, and musicianship.

About Me

“Rosana can do anything. She is that beautiful combination of real musician and superb vocalist, with completely equal amounts of both.” – Peter Eldridge, New York Voices

With an international presence as a masterful vocalist, deep improviser, versatile songwriter, and a tasteful arranger, Rosana Eckert has often been called a musical force. Her shows are an effortless blend of originality, tradition, virtuosity, sincerity, humor, and heart, and she leaves audiences with a feeling of being included, entertained, and inspired. A regular performer throughout the U.S. and abroad, she has sung with such jazz greats as Lyle Mays, Christian McBride, Bobby McFerrin, Kenny Wheeler, George Duke, Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm, and the New York Voices. Her highly anticipated fifth solo album titled Sailing Home, produced by renowned singer/pianist/arranger Peter Eldridge, features all original music and is set to release on June 21 on Origin OA2 Records.

Formerly an accomplished French horn player, Rosana began singing jazz in college. She kicked off her career as a member of the IAJE 1999 Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Sextet, whose tours included the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. She was also selected to participate in the 2000 Thelonious Monk Aspen Jazz Colony with musical director Christian McBride, and several of her performances appeared on the BET Jazz channel. Her debut solo CD, At the End of the Day, was praised as a “superior debut” by Cadence Magazine and was a finalist for Best New Jazz Album in the 2006 Independent Music Awards, showcasing her dynamic improvisation, unique arranging style, and her knack for songwriting. Since then, she has recorded three more solo projects and recorded debut projects of original music with two new bands: the Mike Steinel Quintet featuring Rosana Eckert, and Brasuka, a percussion-heavy Brazilian-inspired jazz ensemble co-founded by Rosana.

A renowned educator, Rosana is Principal Lecturer of jazz voice at the University of North Texas. She has helped build the thriving UNT vocal jazz department since 1999, teaching private jazz voice lessons and performance techniques, and creating new courses in songwriting and vocal pedagogy. Her students have gone on to win Grammy Awards and prestigious competitions, tour the world as solo artists and back-up vocalists, establish music schools and private lesson studios, publish choral arrangements, and work as studio singers on movie soundtracks and commercials. Rosana also serves on the faculty of the UNT Vocal Jazz Summer Workshop and the New York Voices Summer Vocal Jazz Camp, and she is in demand as a clinician, festival adjudicator, guest conductor, and choral composer/arranger. Her many vocal ensemble arrangements, published by Sound Music Publications, Hal Leonard Corp., and Rosana Eckert Music, have been performed worldwide.

Passionate about sharing jazz with children, she co-wrote a jazz musical for young voices with author/educator Sharon Burch titled Freddie the Frog and the Jungle Jazz (published by Hal Leonard). The two also collaborated on a recently released elementary music collection called Jazz And Kids: Song and Activities for a Swingin' Classroom. A highly respected improviser, Rosana is a featured artist on the vocal improvisation app Scatability by Michele Weir, and she is the female vocalist on the demo CD for Darmon Meader’s monumental book titled, “Vocal Jazz Improvisation: An Instrumental Approach,” available at DarmonMeader.com. Now an auther herself, Rosana's book Singing with Expression: A Guide to Authentic and Adventurous Song Interpetation has been called ground-breaking, encyclopedic, and an unparalleled resource for contemporary singers. It was released in June 2018, published by Hal Leonard. In addition to her extensive live performing, writing, and teaching, Rosana works regularly as a studio vocalist, producer, and voice-over actor in Dallas, TX. As a voice-over actor, she is represented by the Kim Dawson Agency and has spoken on many commercials and industrial spots for clients such as AT&T, Petsmart, Direct Energy, Comcast, and EA Games. She has served as a producer on a wide array of projects, from solo vocal albums to children’s musical theater, and as a studio vocalist, Rosana has sung on hundreds of commercials, album projects, publishing demos, and radio IDs heard around the world.

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