Tue Dec 10
Lena Seikaly celebrates seasonal jazz standards with some of the city's top jazz musicians
Lena Seikaly (vocals) is a Washington, DC area-native, and named “one of Washington’s preeminent jazz singers" and "brightest voices in jazz” (The Washington Post). She was one of eleven semi-finalists for the prestigious 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition in L.A., and is an alum of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program, Jazz Aspen Snowmass program directed by Christian McBride, and the Strathmore Artist-in-Residence program. As both a bandleader and featured artist, Lena has headlined at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai (China), the Kennedy Center, Strathmore Music Center and Mansion, Blues Alley, West Virginia Public Radio’s Mountain Stage, various Smithsonian venues, and DC’s famed Westminster Church, as well as the Elkhart Jazz Festival, Mel Bay Jazz Festival, Monty Alexander Jazz Festival, Chestertown Jazz Festival, DC Jazz Festival, and Center City Jazz Festival. She has performed alongside Byron Stripling, Sean Jones, Cyrus Chestnut, Norman Simmons, Walter Blanding, Michael Feinstein, Duduka da Fonseca, and various big bands across the US. Lena holds a B.M. from the University of Maryland School of Music in classical voice, and occasionally performs as a mezzo soprano and alto soloist alongside classical choirs and orchestras in DC. She currently teaches jazz vocal coaching and technique from her studio in Maryland.