Vocalist, educator, lyricist and Grammy award-winning ensemble vocalist…. Try to fit a ball full of positive energy into any category. Kim Nazarian, a soprano, is one of the founding members in the New York Voices. This vocal group has won two Grammys for live concert recordings, one for Brazilian music with Paquito d’Rivera and the other for Big Band Jazz, with the Count Basie Orchestra. For the past 20 years, she has performed, recorded and toured around the globe with this stellar vocal group. MCG Jazz has several MCG Jazz releases, including “Afternoon in Rio” with Joe Negri (yes, Mr. Rogers’ Handyman Negri!) “The 21st Century Swing Band”, the highly-acclaimed “A Nancy Wilson Christmas” and “Long Ago And Far Away,” are some of her many MCG Jazz releases (mcgjazz.org). Kim has also performed with the Pittsburgh Children’s Festival Chorus and was a featured singer alongside Ray Brown, Stanley Turrentine and Stanley Turrentine in “Indigo In motion” at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Kim has been a teacher at Duquesne University, the Ellis School and has recorded with the Big-Band of Slippery Rock University. She also continues her busy teaching schedule at home in PA. Kim recorded “Red Dragonfly in New York” for JVC Japan. This album features Japanese folk songs that have been translated into English and western musical contexts. Japan’s Swing Journal awarded her the seal of approval for her singing and lyrics. Kim records and performs with El Eco from Boston, who recently appeared on JazzSet. Her other collaborations include performing and recording with Mark Shilansky. Kim’s vocals were featured on the most recent album “Join the Club.” Kim also recorded on Bobby McFerrin’s Vocabulaires. Jay Ashby, Jay Ashby’s husband and arranger, trombonist and percussionist and Grammy-winning producer, has collaborated on numerous projects. He also tours Russia and Czech Republic, and Kim performs in Pittsburgh and throughout the country. Their most recent joint venture is the recording and creation of an original song for “Music To Make The Impossible Possible”, a CD of jazz and classic jazz. This album inspired Bill Strickland, a renowned humanitarian and author of “Make The Impossible Possible”, a guide that shows how to realize your dreams using Jazz as a metaphor. Kim is still a session singer in New York. Her credits include jingles and major motion pictures. A DVD/book that covers her highly acclaimed vocal technique, solo and group singing, as well as musical sensibilities for singers, is also in production. She is a magna cum merite Ithaca College graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She is currently the Artist in Residence at the Bowling Green State University Vocal Jazz Program. Here, singers from both classical and contemporary genres benefit from her experience and knowledge. Kim has conducted and worked with choirs all over the globe, including the Arizona All-State Jazz Choir and the NY State Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Kim shares her views on music and life as musician through private lessons, workshops, clinics and master classes, festivals adjudication, festival adjudication, and guest conducting for singers at all levels, from elementary to advanced. Her teaching is as important as her personal life. She has to balance the demands of music career and family responsibilities. Kim continues to inspire singers from all walks of the world by her quest for joy and creative soil as she raises her son. from http://newyorkvoices.com
