Cécile McLorin Salvant

There is no question that Cécile McLorin Salvant is a prevailing voice of her generation. A composer, singer, and visual artist who has developed a passion for storytelling and finding the connections between vaudeville, blues, theater, jazz, baroque and folkloric music, she is an eclectic curator, unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong narratives, interesting power dynamics, unexpected twists, and humor.

Salvant won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010 and received three consecutive Grammys for best jazz vocal album, for The Window, Dreams and Daggers, and For One To Love. She was nominated for a Grammy for WomanChild.

In 2020, Salvant received the MacArthur fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award. Recent albums, on Nonesuch, include the Grammy-nominated Ghost Song and Mélusine, an album mostly sung in French, along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl.