News

Trumpeter Bria Skonberg to Play the Jazz Room at William Paterson University on March 6

Young jazz trumpeter Bria Skonberg performs as part of the Jazz Room Series at William Paterson University in Wayne on Friday, March 6, 2015, at 8 p.m. in the Shea Center of Performing Arts on campus.

Prior to the concert, Skonberg will be the guest for “Sittin’ In,” an informal discussion about jazz, at 7 p.m. in Shea Center 101.  Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticket holders. Tickets are available in advance at the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371 or wp-presents.org for $15 general, $12 for senior citizens and William Paterson faculty, staff, and alumni, $8 for non-William Paterson students, and free for William Paterson students with valid I.D. There will be an additional $3 charge for tickets purchased on show day.

Skonberg has created a jazz sensation through her early dedication and modern interpretation to the music and style of Louis Armstrong. She has collaborated with Wycliffe Gordon, Warren Vaché, Victor Goines, John Pizzarelli and others, and has been hailed as “one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” by the Wall Street Journal.

In 2013 Skonberg earned a Jazz Journalists’ Association nomination for “Up and Coming Jazz Artist of The Year” and has been included in DOWNBEAT Magazine’s Rising Star Critics‘ Poll the last two years. She was recently honored with a New York Bistro Award for “Outstanding Jazz Artist” and swept the 2014 Hot House Jazz Magazine Awards in all categories nominated: Best Jazz Artist, Best Trumpet, Best Female Vocalist and Best Group for the Bria Skonberg Quartet. Her first professional gig was as a big band singer at age 16 doubling on trumpet and she has since performed as a bandleader and guest artist at over 50 jazz festivals in North America, Europe, China and Japan. Since moving to New York in 2010 she has headlined at Symphony Space, Birdland, The Iridium, Dizzy's and Cafe Carlyle.

Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room is one of the largest and most prestigious college-sponsored jazz events in the country. Performers include renowned professionals who encompass the complete spectrum of jazz, as well as William Paterson’s own student ensembles. The series has won numerous grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for its innovative programming.

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