artist info

Bria Skonberg is a Juno-award winning artist, 10x Downbeat Rising Star, Jazz at Lincoln Center Swing! Awardee, and the 2022 recipient of the "Legend" Award by the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook. The trumpeter, vocalist, and composer has been called the "shining hope of hot jazz" (NY Times) and is considered "one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation." (WSJ) She has been a featured artist at hundreds of festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, Monterey, Newport, and Montreal Jazz Festivals.

The daughter of teachers, Bria was introduced to jazz by a spirited public school band program and local festival in her hometown of Chilliwack, British Columbia. A professional band leader since her teens, she moved to Vancouver and obtained her degree in Trumpet Performance from Capilano University. Since arriving in New York in 2010 she has been at the forefront of a revival of classic American music as both a performer and educator, programming concerts and workshops for students of all ages on behalf of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Jazz House Kids and more. Bria is an active mentor in the Women in Jazz Organization, a Bach Conn-Selmer artist, a board member of the International Trumpet Guild, and became a mother in 2020.

Her seventh studio album What it Means was recorded in New Orleans with the Crescent City’s finest and released in July, 2024