Simona Minns

Friday, October 5th

Lithuanian Jazz Artist Simona Minns

Simona Minns is a New York based jazz vocalist, touring artist, composer and artistic director originally from Lithuania, while visiting Atlanta for teaching workshops at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, she is going to show at The Velvet Note on October 5th, 2018. Along with Atlanta’s local talents, they will be presenting a selection of her jazz arrangements and original compositions where classic rock, world and jazz styles are blended. Simona’s style is known for its unique theatrical flavor, genre-bending, and virtuosic vocal scat improvisation. Her latest work, “A Hunger Artist,” blends haunting vocals with elements of Lithuanian folk, vaudeville and even rock music to convey the narrative of Franz Kafka’s short story by the same title.

Classically trained on Lithuanian zither, Simona earned her BA in jazz vocals at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater. Shortly after receiving the European Touring Scholarship, she moved to the United States to study at Berklee College of Music where she majored in Contemporary Composition and Production. She received the Berklee Outstanding Jazz Vocalist Award and regularly performs and presents workshops in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In 2017 Simona founded a contemporary performance company, Syntheater, which brings her compositions to life through modern dance. Besides performing and directing, Simona composes for drama plays, string quartets, orchestras, jazz combo, big bands, and non-traditional instrumental settings. Simona’s latest work is a string quartet score for the silent movie “The Passion of Joan of Arc”.

Musicians: Simona Minns (vocals/zither), Kevin Bales (piano), Emrah Kotan (drums), and Ramon Pooser (bass) 

Showtimes:  7:30pm and 9:30pm.      Admission:  $26.