Karrin Allyson is a vocal jazz singer who will be performing at UNO this coming weekend! Here are eight reasons why you should go see her performance!
- Karrin was born in Great Bend, Kansas and grew up in Omaha, NE. In her youth she studied classical piano, sang at her local church, and began songwriting. She attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha on a classical piano scholarship and majored in classical piano. She is truly an Omaha girl!
- She came from a good family. Her father was a Lutheran minister and her mother was a psychotherapist, teacher, and classical pianist. Her mother was her first piano teacher.
- In college, along with studying piano, she was the lead singer of her own all-female rock band called Tomboy.
- After college she moved to Kansas City, which is where her jazz career took off. She started by singing in her uncle’s nightclub. Several years later she became an even bigger star and moved to New York City.
- Karrin is well versed in foreign languages and can sing in English, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish. She also sings all different genres of music, such as bossa nova, blues, bebop, samba, jazz standards, ballads, pop, soft rock and folk rock. She also tackles scat singing with ease, imitating jazz instruments with her voice. (Scat singing is a way for jazz singers to improvise the music, singing on syllables instead of words.)
- She has recorded 12 original studio albums for the Concord Jazz label in her career. She also has toured extensively in the United States and internationally. She has performed a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald at Carnegie Hall and played with the Omaha and Chicago symphonies.
- Five of her albums have been nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the Grammys; Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane in 2001, Footprints in 2006, Imagina: Songs of Brasil in 2008, ‘Round Midnight in 2011, and May a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein in 2015. She has also received many positive reviews from several prominent sources, such as the New York Times. They called her a “singer with a feline touch and impeccable intonation.”
- This weekend, Karrin will be performing with the UNO Jazz Ensenble and UNO’s Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra. Go support our local university and see this great performance!
If you would like to take classical piano lessons or voice lessons and be like Karrin Allyson, check out our website for lessons!
