Cécile McLorin Salvant

Cécile McLorin Salvant is a composer, singer, and visual artist. The late Jessye Norman described Salvant as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality, which light up every note she sings.” Salvant has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, folk traditions from around the world, theater, jazz, and baroque music. Salvant is an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor. Salvant won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010. She has received Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album for three consecutive albums, The Window, Dreams and Daggers, and For One to Love. In 2020, Salvant received the MacArthur fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award. Salvant released her debut Nonesuch records release Ghost Song in 2022; the album went on to receive two Grammy nominations. Mélusine, an album mostly sung in French, along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Creole, was released in 2023 and was also nominated for two Grammys.

Grammy Award-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner issued Aria (2015), Moments Preserved (2018), and Solo Game (2024) to critical acclaim, the latter receiving four-star reviews in DownBeat and Télérama magazines. His 2025 release Southern Nights features Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore. The Sullivan Fortner Trio was chosen as the 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll for rising star jazz group. The New Orleans native has worked with Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Chief Adjuah, and Roy Hargrove. His works and insights have been featured in culture drivers from the New York Times to The Root. Further accolades include the American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship, Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the Shifting Foundation Grant, and the Western Jazz Presenters Grant.