Appearing in:
New Works NEw Voices
Nia Drummond
soprano
Described as a “moving and electrifying performer” by the Wall Street Journal, Nia Drummond is an up-and-coming performer who is known for combining her jazz roots, operatic training, early gospel influence, and R&B stylings into a unique, “genre fluid” sound.
Nia has been featured at the world-famous Apollo Theater, the Playhouse Square in Cleveland, the New World Center in Miami, the Kennedy Center in D.C., St. Ann’s Warehouse in NYC, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Orvieto, Italy, and other world-renowned venues/festivals. She has appeared with The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Opera, and the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. She has also been featured in Renée Fleming’s American Voices, a televised vocal symposium which aired as a Great Performances documentary on PBS, with artists such as Eric Owens, Renée Fleming, Alison Krauss, Kurt Elling, Ben Folds, Sara Barielles, Kim Burrell and others. Along with her solo work, Nia has appeared as a background vocalist for the likes of: Sir Elton John, Bette Midler, Valerie Simpson, Fantasia, John Legend, Lillias White, Deborah Cox, Grace Weber, Melvin Crispell, III and others.
Apart from her contemporary work, Nia has extensive credits in the classical world. Her opera credits include: Mother Superior in Benton Hess’ Felice, the title role in Tobias Picker’s Therese Raquin, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Rosalinda in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Edith in Gilbert and Sullivans’ Pirates of Penzance which so happened to be her debut at Lincoln Center. Additionally, she has appeared in operatic/symphonic chorus under the batons of Michael Tilson Thomas, the late Lorin Maazel, James Levine, David Robertson and others. Under the tutelage of Ms. Shinobu Takagi, Nia earned her bachelor’s in music (Voice Performance) from SUNY Fredonia in May 2017.
As a proud alumna of the National YoungArts Foundation, Nia was one of three winners selected from 10,000 competitors for the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts “Jazz Voice” award in 2012. She was also the recipient of the 2012 Gordon Parks Centennial Scholarship Award presented by the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2nd place winner in the Erie Music Teachers’ Association competition, a finalist in the 2016 SUNY Fredonia Concerto Competition, and was honored to sing the National Anthem at the annual 9/11 Memorial Ceremony in September of 2015. Led by “The Piano Prince of New Orleans”, Davell Crawford, Nia was a part of a handpicked ensemble that was featured in a video performance released by Steinway & Sons in 2020. Nia is the recipient of the 2021 Davell Crawford Artist Funding Endowment. In 2020, Nia was commissioned by the world-renowned Young People’s Chorus of NYC write her first song to be featured in the Just Songs compilation - her first composed and published song. Nia is a student of Mr. Clifford Smith.
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