Tuesdays 6:30 - 8 pm PT 4/4 - 5/30 (9 weeks) Performance Date: 6/6

Students will have an opportunity to bring in songs of their choice to work on interpretation, phrasing, improvisation and simple arrangements in preparation for an end-of-term performance. Open to all levels, Ms. Kuljanic will work individually with singers to help strengthen their personal styles. We will cover a different style of jazz each week, from up-tempo swing to bossa novas and ballads. In addition, if students need help selecting material, suggestions will be made from the vast catalog of songs from the Great American Songbook.

About Astrid Kuljanic

Renowned for her complex musical sensibility and supple sound, Croatian vocalist Astrid Kuljanic has immersed herself in an eclectic variety of musical traditions from around the world. Her journey from the Balkans to New York has allowed her to absorb Jazz, Brazilian, and Indian music and acquire an advanced knowledge of performing with electronics using Ableton Live. Astrid is equally skilled in faithful interpretations of these styles as she is inventive in her own arrangements – employing mixed meters and folk harmonies personally and authentically.

With her New York quartet Astrid Kuljanic Transatlantic Exploration Company, she celebrated the debut album Riva released for OneTrickDog* Records with a sold-out concert at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has continued to perform this program at venues such as the Kennedy Center and has taken it on tour in Europe. With her Croatian-Slovenian band Mildreds, she recorded two albums for Aquarius Records. The band is the subject of a 2021 documentary film produced by Hommage Productions.

In addition to her work as a bandleader, Astrid is a frequent collaborator on various projects. In 2020 she was a part of Thana Alexa’s album ONA, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album. In 2020, Astrid was recognized by Brooklyn Arts Council with a grant to support her project Why Are You Gone?, a concert program centered on themes of migration pertaining to various communities in Brooklyn, NY. This music will be featured on her next recording, a duo with bassist Mat Muntz. Astrid has performed in venues such as Jazz Standard and Gramercy Theatre in NYC, Teatro O’Nariz in Portugal, JZ Hangzhou, China, as well as festivals like Earshot Jazz in Seattle, Mendocino in California, GoldenFest in Brooklyn, Lent in Slovenia, and Ordokatlan in Hungary. Ms. Kuljanic’s mission is to engage audiences across cultural boundaries. To that end, she founded Crescendo Music Festival (Croatia), which has been exposing a diverse array of international artists to local audiences for more than a decade.

Astrid holds a Bachelor of Music from the Conservatory G. Tartini, Trieste, Italy, and a Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Theo Bleckmann, Kate McGarry, and Gretchen Parlato.