Veronica Swift With Stephanie Nakasian at Pittsfield CityJazz Festival at The Colonial Theatre

The Pittsfield CityJazz Festival (Oct. 11-20) has become a signature cultural event of the fall foliage season in the Berkshires. Now in its fifteenth year, headline weekend culminates with the remarkable vocal team of Veronica Swift and Stephanie Nakasian, singing both solo and together. Perhaps the fastest-rising vocalist on the jazz scene today at just 25 years old, Veronica Swift has built a résumé that many late-career jazz singers would envy: tours as a featured vocalist with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Chris Botti; a guest collaboration with Michael Feinstein; engagements at A-list clubs like Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, and The Jazz Showcase; and headlined at top festivals including Monterey, Montreal and Telluride. Her appearance with Botti was captured in a video that has been seen by hundreds of thousands of PBS viewers. As a child, she began performing with her musician parents, the late pianist Hod O’Brien, and the singer/educator/author Stephanie Nakasian, and in 2015, she earned second place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, the most prestigious contest in the art form. Her command of the vocal-jazz tradition is astounding, as was demonstrated at last year’s Pittsfield CityJazz Festival: she so impressed the audience that she is the only performer ever invited back for a second consecutive year. ...

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The Pittsfield CityJazz Festival (Oct. 11-20) has become a signature cultural event of the fall foliage season in the Berkshires. Now in its fifteenth year, headline weekend culminates with the remarkable vocal team of Veronica Swift and Stephanie Nakasian, singing both solo and together. Perhaps the fastest-rising vocalist on the jazz scene today at just 25 years old, Veronica Swift has built a résumé that many late-career jazz singers would envy: tours as a featured vocalist with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Chris Botti; a guest collaboration with Michael Feinstein; engagements at A-list clubs like Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, and The Jazz Showcase; and headlined at top festivals including Monterey, Montreal and Telluride. Her appearance with Botti was captured in a video that has been seen by hundreds of thousands of PBS viewers. As a child, she began performing with her musician parents, the late pianist Hod O’Brien, and the singer/educator/author Stephanie Nakasian, and in 2015, she earned second place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, the most prestigious contest in the art form. Her command of the vocal-jazz tradition is astounding, as was demonstrated at last year’s Pittsfield CityJazz Festival: she so impressed the audience that she is the only performer ever invited back for a second consecutive year.

Known as one of the world’s leading jazz singers, Stephanie Nakasian will take listeners on a fresh and authentic swing voyage that transcends the Great Ladies of Song in both tribute and originality. Capturing the hearts of audiences with her extensive repertoire, reaching from jazz to Broadway, Stephanie is a Berkshire favorite, and creates an atmosphere of romance and excitement that will transport listeners to another place and time. It will be her third appearance in Pittsfield, her first with her daughter Veronica Swift. The Berkshires Jazz Youth Ensemble will open the concert at 7:30pm

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