SDSU Jazz Festival
Instrumental and vocal jazz ensembles of all levels are cordially invited to participate in the 21st annual SDSU Jazz Festival. The festival will be held on Thursday, April 8, 2027, at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center,
2027 Guest Artists
Kim Nazarian is a world renowned, Grammy nominated jazz performing and recording artist, educator and clinician. Besides her work as a sought-after solo vocalist, she has been performing all over the world with the vocal group “New York Voices“ (NYV) for more than 35 years. She is a jazz voice teacher for Vocal Jazz Majors at Ithaca College and she shares her perspectives on music and life as a musician through teaching private students in clinics, workshops, jazz camps and masterclasses, as well as through festival adjudication and guest conducting for singers on all levels in the U.S. and abroad.
One of Nazarian's most recent accolades was being awarded the "Jazz Educator of the Year 2023" by the JEN organization. She is the first female, and the first vocal jazz recipient of this prestigious honor. Continuing to climb the professional ladder, Kim has added Artistic Director to her list of titles, working with the established team of the DeMiero Jazz festival.
Nazarian was recognized as one of the top 50 most influential Armenian artists in 2012 and inducted into her High School’s Hall of Fame. She is also proud to be the lead vocalist for the Latin influenced jazz ensemble “El Eco“, spearheaded by Argentinian drummer and composer Guillermo Nojechowicz; and appears as a featured vocalist on the 2 latest CD's of Gabriel Espinosa.
Marcus Lewis graduated from Valdosta State University with a Bachelorʼs Degree in Jazz Performance and a Masterʼs Degree in Trombone Performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Marcus is a recipient of the 2018 Charlotte Street Generative Artist Award and the 2020 UNESCO American Music International Innovator Award. He is as the Artistic Director of a non-profit dedicated to jazz education aptly named, Future Jazz KC. Marcus is also the Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). Some notable artists that Marcus has performed and or recorded with are Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Janelle Monáe, Bruno Mars, B.o.B, Prince, Musiqsoulchild, Avery Sunshine, Jidenna, The Barkays, Confunkshun and Sugarfoot’s Ohio Players. Marcus plays B.A.C Trombones exclusively.
