New York Voices
The Grand Finale, a Celebration of Songs and Friendship
Saturday, March 21 - 7:30pm
Peter Eldridge, baritone
Lauren Kinhan, soprano
Darmon Meader, tenor
Kim Nazarian, soprano
New York Voices was born in the mid-1980s at Ithaca College. Peter Eldridge (an aspiring jazz pianist who came late to singing), Kim Nazarian (who dreamed of a life on Broadway), and Darmon Meader (a saxophonist and self-described “choral geek”) met in the school’s vocal jazz ensemble, where they bonded musically with another member, Caprice Fox, when the ensemble was invited to perform on a tour of European jazz festivals. The four formed a quartet and moved to NYC in 1988 to appear as New York Voices, which soon became a quintet with the addition of Sarah Krieger.
One of New York Voices’ debut performances was at Preacher’s, a Greenwich Village club. That appearance launched the beginning of a sizable following that attracted the interest of record labels. The group signed with GRP in 1989 and made their first recording, New York Voices, which featured a mix of acoustic and electric, traditional and crossover jazz. They then hit the road, touring the U.S. in a motor home and making their first international excursions as they worked to build a worldwide audience.
Krieger left the band after their second album (1991’s Hearts of Fire), which began a long, arduous search for a new fifth voice. The search ended when Lauren Kinhan aced her audition with “God Bless the Child.” After two more years Fox moved on to other things and the group decided to continue on as a foursome. They declared their new identity with 1997’s New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon.
New York Voices has increased its currency in the jazz world through numerous collaborations, including with the Count Basie Orchestra, Paquito d’Rivera (who dubbed them “the four and only”), and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. They launched a jazz education initiative, a Vocal Jazz Camp, in 2008; a European camp followed in 2016. Each of the members of New York Voices has a long history as a music educator: Eldridge is a voice professor at Berklee College of Music; Kinhan is an adjunct faculty member at New York University; Meader has been an adjunct faculty member at Manhattan School of Music and Indiana University and an artist-in-residence at numerous schools; and Nazarian is a vocal jazz instructor at Ithaca College.
The members have always followed their passions in choosing repertoire and writing for the human voice. NYV has released 10 studio albums featuring their signature sound and eclectic musical choices. They were also special guests on Grammy-winning projects with the Count Basie Orchestra (Live at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, 1996) and Paquito D’Rivera (Brazilian Dreams, 2002). Other projects included a contemporary classical record, Visions Within (2008), and Meeting of Minds, a collaboration with the Bob Mintzer Big Band (2018). The group overcame the challenges of geographical distance and the members’ active solo pursuits to record their final studio album, Reminiscing in Tempo (2019).
New York Voices plans to retire as an ensemble by the end of 2026 after taking “one last lap around the planet.”
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