SUNDAY BRUNCH
10.13.24
Celebrating Iconic Women of Jazz
with APRIL VARNER
Ella, Dinah, Nina, Peggy… all you need to hear are the first names and you already know who they are. These women, along with several others, have made an indelible mark in Jazz throughout History and have played a major role in popularizing many of the great standards you hear today. What better way to commemorate them on the festival's tenth anniversary than showcasing some of their best work with last year’s International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Award winner and rising young star… April Varner!
As a New York City-based Jazz vocalist by way of Toledo, Ohio, her name is a name you won’t soon forget! Being no stranger to the stage, Varner began displaying vocal, musical theatre, drama, and piano talents at the local, regional, national, and international levels at a very young age. This included being a guest vocalist at the Toledo Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert, a 2-time All-National Honors Ensemble member in Nashville, TN, and a National Finalist at the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Academy in Carmel, Indiana. By age 16, April had made her Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Hall following a first-place award by the American Protégé International Vocal Competition, and had traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland as part of a drama group to share the stage at the renowned Edinburgh Arts Fringe Festival.
Now at the age of 26, Varner has already performed and/or studied with a multitude of legendary artists and jazz luminaries such as Tierney Sutton, Jane Monheit, Michael Feinstein, Benny Benack III, and Russell Malone. Countless appearances at many of the city’s top jazz spots have followed, including The Django, 55 Bar, Dizzy’s Coca-Cola Club, Ornithology Jazz Club, Birdland Theater, and more.
Her long-awaited full-length debut album, entitled “Dear April”, was released on June 28th and was produced by Grammy-Award winning drummer, producer and educator, Ulysses Owens Jr. The personnel of the album include Russell Malone, Benny Benack III, Dayna Stephens, Theo Bleckmann, Reuben Rogers, Miguel Russell and Caelan Cardello.