Noted jazz vocalist, Nicole Henry, to teach at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

Growing up with a mother who was a concert pianist, jazz vocalist Nicole Henry was surrounded by music for as long as she can remember. “There was never a question of whether [my sister and I] were going to learn an instrument; it was just [a matter of] which instrument were we going to pick,” said Henry, who opted for the cello, while her sister tried out the violin, viola, and bass.

Henry “loved the cello,” playing it until 11th grade, after which she stopped studying music formally, although she continued to sing for fun, in school and church.

“I’ve been singing my whole life, but it wasn’t until 2000 that I said to myself that I’d stop working anywhere else and do it full time,” she explained. “I’m a singer by doing, not by being taught.”

Nicole Henry, in concert. (Photo by Jennifer Colon)

That homegrown start is part of the reason why Henry decided to partner with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music – housed in Park Slope in a five-story Victorian Gothic mansion – beginning in January 2013, teaching master classes to BCM students and donating a portion of the proceeds of all of her New York City performances over the next year directly to the Conservatory.

“In choosing the Conservatory, there’s something about the school itself that reminded me of my childhood, going to music school and studying ballet… the school physically struck a nerve with me,” she said. “It’s beautiful and the remarkable services that they provide throughout the city are just impressive. It’s so wonderful that they keep that tradition alive.”

Music education is an important cause for the Philadelphia-born, Miami-based Henry, who makes a habit of advocating for the cause during each of her shows. “I really like to bring that to the forefront of people’s minds when they have an opportunity to think about it, so people go ‘oh yeah, that’s right,” she explained. “Obviously [the audience] respects music when they are in that auditorium, but we have to support it when we can.”

“I don’t have children, so I don’t know what the approach to music ed nowadays is, but I know the approach our country has with our education system doesn’t value that, which is sad,” said Henry, noting that during her travels to Europe and Russia to perform, “it’s such an important thing for their kids to go to music school. Everybody goes.”

“And around the world, American music is so welcomed and loved, adored and admired,” she added. “We have a responsibility as Americans to keep our music strong – meaning we have to keep teaching children how to write music, how to make lyrics, and make music that is musically interesting, with chordal arrangements and arranging for strings. We have to maintain that rich culture. It starts with kids.”

The accomplished singer – whose sixth album, “So Good, So Right: Nicole Henry Live” will be released on January 29, 2013 – “fell in love with jazz as a genre [and its] melodies and lyrics” in 2002 during a trip to a jazz club in Miami Beach, but grew up listening to the pop and soul sounds emanating from the radio and MTV channel on TV.

Explaining the inspiration for her upcoming album, Henry said she “really connected with the music of the 70s – all those incredible grooves and great lyrics that conveyed hope and love and being free… the artists of that time were true craftsmen and their music had such a broad sound accessible by people of all races [and] I wanted to revisit that time and those emotions and share them with my fans.”

Since 2004, Henry has sung interpretations of works from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, The Commodores, and Gladys Knight, as well as contemporary sounds and original music that inspires her.

“My inspiration is the natural state of people and of the world… For me, it’s about trying to interpret how I feel that day,” she said. Over the last five years, her repertoire has become “inclusive to what’s always been in my heart, but wasn’t always coming out of my mouth on a regular basis,” she said. “So, jazz, soul, pop, and contemporary jazz.”

(Photo by Rafael Balcazar)

Henry’s experience building a respected career for herself first as an actress and then as a singer and musician will help inform her classes at the Conservatory this coming year.

“I don’t practice teaching on a regular basis, although when I’m on tour, I’ll talk to students, focusing on preparation as a vocalist, warming up, what it’s like on stage, presenting yourself, the business of becoming a full-time professional artist, what it means to find your supporters, and how to ask for help because it’s not easy being an artist,” she said.

In the music education world, Henry also sits on the board of a Miami-based organization that has professional musicians introduce jazz to the kids of the Liberty City neighborhood, which Henry says has a rich history of the arts.

“It’s really important to me that people realize music isn’t just something you bop your head to,” she said. “Arts education is such an important part of society, it rounds out a child’s mind as well as enhances their ability to… stretch their mental capacity in math and science, and… is a way to express their feelings, especially in a world where it is not so much about feelings as it is video games and other things.”

For more information on Henry and her CD and tour dates, visit www.nicolehenry.com. For info on Conservatory classes, visit www.bqcm.org.

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