Friends of Chamber Music kick off new season with jazz concert on Sept. 29

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Friends of Chamber Music will kick off its 2022-23 season this month with award-winning jazz singer Samara Joy performing at Rudder Theatre.

The performance is Thursday, September 29th at 7 p.m.

The organization says, “At just 22 years old, once-in-a-generation jazz singer Samara Joy has already earned critical acclaim for a voice that is, according to The New York Times, “as rich as custard,” and a style that NPR Fresh Air called “disarming [and] unhurried,” just as she has built a devoted following in the US and around the globe.”

Click here to buy tickets

Samara released Linger Awhile, her full-length debut for Verve Records, on September 16.

We spoke with the New York City resident and winner of the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition last week about her upcoming performance in BCS.

“Hopefully, they’ll realize that it’s more than just a performance. It is me trying to connect with them through stories, through songs. So it’s not just me singing at you, singing at anybody, and you have to sit and listen, but I want to connect and I think that hopefully, I can make the atmosphere and the environment a warm one so that everybody feels welcome to receive what I have to give,” said Joy.

Joy, who says the upcoming trip to Texas will be her first in the Lone Star State, first took interest in jazz when a teacher suggested that she sing with a band.

She admits she didn’t know much about the genre when she began singing jazz but that forced her to learn the in and outs of the music style.

“I love it, but it was in my ear when I was growing up, so I felt like in order to really authentically express the genre I had to listen to who created it, the musicians and singers alike,” Joy said. “I love the amount of exploration that I can try out and explore within my own voice, and the setting, it being acoustic instead of electronic instrument instruments, I love everything about it. I’ve done R&B gigs and stuff like that, and I have sung a lot of styles but I really feel at home in this one.”

Copyright 2022 KBTX. All rights reserved.