Bria Skonberg - 2027 Guest Artist
We are delighted that Bria Skonberg is returning to Sacramento to share her amazing talent with our festival students and educators. The Sacramento Jazz Education Foundation is proud to have been a part of Bria's musical journey, first as a camper at our Teagarden Jazz Camp, then, for several years, as a camp educator and trumpet instructor. She's also served as a TJF clinician. Bria is a shining example of what our festival sets out to do, inspire young musicians to play and enjoy jazz. It feels especially fitting she is the guest artist for our 20th anniversary.
Bria a Juno-award winning artist, 10x Downbeat Rising Star, recipient of the Legend Award by the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook and a 2025 nominee for the European "Academie du Jazz" awards. The trumpeter, vocalist, and songwriter 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, Kobe, Monterey, Breda, Newport and Montreal Jazz Festivals and recently at Carnegie Hall. Her debut LP on Sony Masterworks reached #5 on the Billboard Jazz charts. Her 7th studio album What it Means was recorded in New Orleans and received a rare 5 star Downbeat review. Her music has been streamed over 25 million times. A professional band leader since her teens growing up in British Columbia, Canada, 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. She is a co-producer of the NY Hot Jazz Camp now in its 11th year. Bria is an active member of the Women in Jazz Organization, the International Trumpet Guild, and a Bach Conn-Selmer artist.
Her latest albums Brass and Indigo, both released in 2026, have received rave reviews and are available on CD, Vinyl and streaming at briaskonberg.com.