ABOUT VALERIE
As a young child, I would try to imitate my Swedish grandmother as she sang opera and accompanied herself on the piano. Or so they say. I don’t really remember. But I do have fond memories of my mom teaching me piano lessons at my grandmother’s house.
In high school, I began singing in choir, performing in school musicals and also was recruited to play bells and mallets in marching and concert band. It was at this time, I was exposed to jazz. I sang in my school’s jazz choir and also started playing vibraphone in the jazz band, and even received an Outstanding Musicianship Award at the Reno Jazz Festival.
In high school, I began singing in choir, performing in school musicals and also was recruited to play bells and mallets in marching and concert band. It was at this time, I was exposed to jazz. I sang in my school’s jazz choir and also started playing vibraphone in the jazz band, and even received an Outstanding Musicianship Award at the Reno Jazz Festival.
My love of jazz led me to Central Washington University, where I earned a Bachelor of Music degree cum laude with studies in Vocal Performance and Business Administration and Marketing. I was determined to work with pioneering jazz educator, John Moawad and I was selected for his award-winning Vocal Jazz Ensemble as a freshman. In the four years that I sang lead soprano with the choir, we won 1st Place in the West Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival in Berkeley, CA, recorded the album, In a Mellow Tone and performed with jazz great, Dizzy Gillespie.
During my later years at CWU, my female vocal jazz quartet, Sudden Touch, performed regularly in the Northwest, received national attention by being chosen as one of six groups nationwide for the 1st Collegiate Jazz Festival at Epcott Center in Florida and was featured on the cover of the Jazz Educator’s Journal.
