Grammy winner Luciana Souza is one of Jazz’s leading singers and interpreters. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Ms. Souza’s work transcends traditional boundaries around musical styles.
Ms. Souza has performed and recorded with Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, Danilo Perez, and many others. She has worked in New Music with Osvaldo Golijov, Derek Bermel, Patrick Zimmerli, and Caroline Shaw, performing with the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and many orchestras around the world.
Ms. Souza has been releasing celebrated recordings since 2002 - including six of her own Grammy- nominated records. She won a Grammy Award for her participation on Herbie Hancock’s Album of the Year - River, The Joni Letters. She can be heard in over one hundred recordings as a featured artist.
Luciana Souza spent four years on faculty at Berklee College of Music, where she received a Bachelor's in Jazz Composition. She earned a Master's degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music, and taught for four years at Manhattan School of Music. In 2020 Luciana Souza was a fellow at M.I.T. and currently teaches at UCLA, CalArts, and The Frost School of Music at University of Miami. Ms. Souza has twice been awarded Best Female Jazz Singer by the Jazz Journalists Association, in 2005 and 2013.