BRIA SKONBERG – SHORT BIOBria Skonberg is a Juno-award winning artist, 10x Downbeat Rising Star, recipient of theLegend Award by the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook and a2025 nominee for the European “Academie du Jazz” awards. The trumpeter, vocalist, andsongwriter has been called the“shining hope of hot jazz”(NY Times) and is considered“one ofthe most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation”(WSJ). She has been a featuredartist at hundreds of festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans JazzHeritage, Kobe, Monterey, Breda, Newport and Montreal Jazz Festivals and Carnegie Hall.Her debut LP on Sony Masterworks reached #5 on the Billboard Jazz charts. Her 7th studioalbumWhat it Meanswas recorded in New Orleans and received a rare 5 star Downbeatreview. Her music has been streamed over 30 million times.
A professional band leader since her teens growing up in British Columbia, Canada, shemoved to Vancouver and obtained her degree in Trumpet Performance from CapilanoUniversity. Since arriving in New York in 2010 she has been at the forefront of a revival ofclassic American music as both a performer and educator, programming concerts andworkshops for students of all ages on behalf of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Louis ArmstrongHouse Museum, Jazz House Kids and more. She is a co-producer of the NY Hot Jazz Campnow in its 11th year. Bria is an active member of the Women in Jazz Organization, theInternational Trumpet Guild, and a Bach Conn-Selmer artist. 2026 will mark the release of twoprojects, displaying both Bria’s fiery trumpet playing (Brass) and her smoky vocals and story-telling (Indigo).
