Sara Colman
Sara Colman's expressive songwriting blurs musical genres into her own captivating, emotional style.
Working in recent years with leading lights in British music including Laura Mvula, Liane Carroll and Mahalia, her new band now features some of the most exciting musicians from the jazz world, bringing her original writing very much to life.
Inspired by her love of classic songwriting and instinctive improvisational energy, Sara’s musical journey brings her jazz sensibility into roots music territory. Her profound originals sit alongside stylish arrangements, the folk-tinged worlds of Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, contemporary jazz, improvisation and the Americana of Bill Frisell.
Themba Mvula
Themba Mvula is an operatic baritone based in the UK. Born in Zambia, he discovered his passion for classical music at secondary school in North Wales. He studied at Birmingham Conservatoire where he was winner of the Gordon Clinton English Song Prize, and more recently was awarded second prize in the Bologna International Vocal Competition, and was a finalist in the inaugural By Voice Alone competition.
He was a soloist and member of the Olivier Award winning ensemble in Porgy and Bess for ENO and Dutch National Opera. And in 2017 he starred as Vithobai in the world premiere of The Life to Come by Stephen Fry and Louis Mander for Surrey Opera.
In addition to performing Themba has enjoyed working on a range of education and community projects with organisations including ENO Baylis, WNO and Birmingham Opera Company as part of his commitment to opera outreach.
China Moses
The high voltage soul and jazz diva, China Moses will join Virtually Vocal Sessions for a live Q&A with participants, sharing stories and advice relating to her career on stage, screen and radio broadcast.
With her incisive voice and high voltage personality, China Moses has taken the jazz world by storm in recent years. The daughter of legendary jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and Gilbert Moses, she was raised on music and the world of entertainment from a young age. With six studio albums already under her belt, as well as collaborations with everyone from DJ Medhi to Anthony Marshall, China is also a seasoned broadcaster, notably presenting on MTV France, co-hosting the 2016 pre-MOBOs and currently presenting on Jazz FM.
These Virtually Vocal sessions have been made possible by the generosity of our Jazz audiences. The sessions form part of Town Hall Symphony Hall’s Jazzlines programme, which provides talent development opportunities delivered by professional musicians who inspire the next generation of artists, audiences and producers.
Town Hall Symphony Hall's Jazzlines is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Partner and supported by Arts Council England under the National Portfolio Organisation scheme.
PRS Foundation supports organisations from across the UK which have been selected as PRS Foundation Talent Development Partners. These organisations are working at the frontline of talent development in the UK, supporting a broad range of individual music creators across different music genres and UK regions. This reflects PRS Foundation’s commitment to supporting composers and songwriters of all backgrounds either through direct investment or by helping organisations which nurture music creators and promote their music to audiences at home and overseas.
The Arts Council (ACE) is the national development agency for creativity and culture. By 2030 ACE want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. Between 2018 and 2022, ACE will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help deliver this vision.
Jazzlines is also supported by other generous individuals and organisations.
