Stacey Kent Performs at Pepperdine University in March

GRAMMY-nominated jazz vocalist Stacey Kent performs at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 8 p.m.

Tickets, priced starting at $27.50 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting the event page. More info about Stacey Kent is available at her website staceykent.com.

Stacey Kent is a jazz singer in the mold of the greats, with a legion of fans worldwide, and a host of honors and awards, including album sales in excess of two million and Platinum, Double-Gold and Gold-selling albums that have reached a series of No. 1 chart positions during the span of her career.

Her album I Know I Dream: The Orchestral Sessions (Sony) has had more than 40 million streams, won "Album of the Year" in the vocal category at the 2018 Jazz Japan Awards, and received glowing reviews, including a coveted five stars in Downbeat, and was described by All About Jazz as "intoxicating understatement at its finest... one more jewel in a discography with many, it's one that deserves singling out for its luster."

Graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in NY with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature, Kent's passion for music motivated her to travel to Europe to further her studies. She eventually found herself in London where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she met her future husband and musical partner, Jim Tomlinson.

Kent's musical journey began in her childhood with piano lessons. A keen ear and true voice lead her to search out opportunities to express her love of music. However, nothing suggested the shift from the academic path to the path that propelled her to international recognition as one of the foremost jazz singers of her generation. With a catalog of 11 studio albums, including the Platinum-selling, GRAMMY-nominated Breakfast on the Morning Tram (EMI/Blue Note 2007) and an impressive list of collaborations, Kent has graced the stages of more than 55 countries over the course of her career.

Kent paid her dues in the jazz clubs of London, before releasing the first of a series of albums for the Candid label, beginning with Close Your Eyes in 1997. Her second album, The Tender Trap (1999), brought her to the attention of US audiences with appearances on CBS Sunday Morning and NPR's All Things Considered. Albums and awards followed, with Kent winning the "Jazz Vocalist of the Year" at the BBC Jazz Awards. The Boy Next Door (2003) was Kent's last Candid release and her first album to achieve Gold status.

During this period, Kent cemented her reputation as a singer capable of putting a distinctive stamp on an impressive repertoire of standards. Her ability to communicate emotion through a nuanced and minimalist approach was showcased on Jim Tomlinson's album The Lyric (Token), which was awarded "Album of the Year" at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards. This album brought her to the attention of Blue Note records with whom she signed in 2007. With each successive album, Kent's style has become more honed as her artistic outlook has broadened, leading her beyond the Great American Songbook to French chanson and Brazilian music which form an ever-larger part of her repertoire.

Kent's repertoire also includes a growing number of songs written for her by Jim Tomlinson with various lyricists, most notably the Nobel Prize-winning author, Kazuo Ishiguro. The idea of singing original compositions came up during lunch with Ishiguro. The conversation turned to music, and the idea was hatched to write a series of songs for Kent that distilled themes of memory, travel and love that so frequently surfaced in her repertoire. From this conversation, the songs for Breakfast on the Morning Tram were conceived.

Almost overnight, Kent transformed from being a singer of the Great American Songbook, to a singer with a highly distinctive and personal repertoire. The first collaboration between Ishiguro, the lyricist, and Tomlinson, the composer, The Ice Hotel, won first prize in the jazz category of the International Songwriting Competition. Since then, all of Kent's albums have been punctuated by original songs composed by Tomlinson with a variety of lyricists in English, French and Portuguese.

Kent has continued to pursue a frenetic recording and touring schedule. Her first album for Blue Note was followed in 2009 by the Gold-selling, all-French, Raconte-Moi, which was that year's biggest selling French language album outside of France. She was invited to perform an all-French program at the Francofolies Festival and was awarded the Chevalier Dans L'Ordre Des Arts et Des Lettres. Her first ever live album, Dreamer in Concert (EMI 2011), was followed by The Changing Lights (Warner 2013), which more than any other album, reveals the ever-present influence of Brazil in Kent's music.

Among French, Italian and German, Kent also speaks Portuguese. She has toured widely in Brazil and collaborated with many of her heroes including Edu Lobo, Dori and Danilo Caymmi, Roberto Menescal, and most notably Marcos Valle, who invited her to celebrate his 50 years in music on the album, Ao Vivo (Sony 2013). A DVD and documentary of their collaboration and friendship was also released on Sony in 2016.

With Roberto Menescal, Kent recorded Tenderly (Sony), an intimate collection of standards that showcases her crystalline voice and Menescal's warm guitar. Jazzwise Magazine referred to the album as "an extremely beautiful meeting of minds" It is Menescal's only full album as a jazz guitarist and demonstrates the debt he owes to the great Barney Kessel. As Kent's first standards album in a decade, it shows her increasingly impressive and maturing interpretative gifts.

Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has put Kent's concert appearances on pause, she has been busy recording from home and staying in touch with her fans through social media. She has recently released several recordings including Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" and Bill Withers' "Lovely Day," with messages of hope for these troubled times, as well as the EP, Christmas in the Rockies (Token 2020). Kent is also currently releasing a series of singles with her long-standing piano accompanist, Art Hirahara, entitled Songs from Other Places, which will include, among others, new original songs from Jim Tomlinson & Kazuo Ishiguro.

Songs from Other Places will be released as a full album in autumn, 2021. Her forthcoming studio album, Summer Me, Winter Me, originally scheduled for release in October 2020 is now planned for release sometime in 2022.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from over 800 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

An Important Update for Patrons

All visitors coming to Pepperdine's campus must purchase a ticket or make a reservation prior to arrival on the Malibu campus. Patrons should be prepared to show their ticket at the Public Safety gate to enter campus.

If you have any questions about purchasing or reserving tickets, or if you would like to make a reservation to visit the Box Office in person, contact the Box Office at cfabox@pepperdine.edu or by phone at 310.506.4522.

All patrons age 2 and older attending events in Smothers Theatre must provide proof that they:

• Are fully vaccinated, or

• Have received a negative COVID-19 test.

For more information about current health and safety policies at CFA, please visit here.

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