Aurora Nealand is a well-known New Orleans musician, composer, performer, and improviser. She has been a leader in her band since 2005, when she arrived. Nealand is a unique, sensitive, and daring performer and music creator who combines the “formal education”, which includes a music composition degree at Oberlin Conservatory as well as training at the Jacques Lecoq School of Physical Theatre, Paris. Her performance on clarinet, saxophones and vocals is her most prominent accomplishment. She has also been a pioneer in the revival of New Orleans Traditional Jazz among the city’s younger musicians. After several years of playing in and learning from established New Orleans bands (Panorama Jazz Bands, VaVaVooms, The New Orleans Moonshiners), she founded her own Traditional Jazz band, “The Royal Roses” in 2010. To national acclaim, The Royal Roses released their first album “A Tribute To Sydney Bechet Live at Preservation Hall”. Nealand was named one of Downbeat Magazine’s top ten rising soprano saxophone stars in 2010. Nealand was raised in California in a musical household listening to Preservation Hall Jazz Band recordings alongside Stravinsky, Joan Baez, and the Pixies. She fell in love with Laurie Anderson’s performances and soundscapes, as well as the recordings of Mingus and Mort Subotnik while at Oberlin College/Conservatory. She was interested in interdisciplinary work, sound for theatre and installation and moved to Paris to attend the Ecole du Theatre Jacques Lecoq. After returning to the USA, she cycled across America collecting audio interviews and stories from rural America. These were used in a series about “American Dreams.” She returned from her bicycle trip to New Orleans and has been her home since 2005. She began playing traditional jazz and Django Reinhardt’s jazz manouche in New Orleans. She was soon involved in the local improvisation scene, playing with different ensembles and artists at the Open Ears Series. Nealand, in addition to her leadership of the Royal Roses is also the leader/frontman for New Orleans’ premier rockabilly band, “Rory Danger Dangers” and performs regularly with “The Monocle”, her solo project. She is also a member Panorama Jazz Band as well as Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship. She appeared as herself on “Treme” in 2010 and 2011. Nealand has performed in New Orleans numerous times at clubs, the Jazz and Heritage Fests, FrenchQuarter Fests, and Satchmo Fests. In New York City, she has performed at the BlueNote in NYC, Knitting Factory, Barbes, and at the Lincoln Center Summer Festival in NYC. She also premiered original music at Symphony Space, Alice Tully Hall. She has performed internationally at the Istanbul Jazz Festival and Barcelona Swing Festival. She has also toured extensively throughout Europe, including Sweden, Germany, France, and the Balkans. from http://auroranealand.com
