Our Story

“The Art of Survival” is what it’s all about.  That, and the family we have become.

New York Voices Keeps on Keeping On!

THE GRAND FINALE

The first time I saw New York Voices perform live, at a show at Long Island University more than a decade ago, that’s when it dawned on me: These are four of the most distinctive and accomplished singers in jazz who just happen to sing together.

The Voices – soprano Kim Nazarian; alto Lauren Kinhan; baritone Peter Eldridge; and tenor, saxophonist, and musical director Darmon Meader – “The Four and Only,” as the great Cuban saxophone and clarinet virtuoso Paquito D’Rivera once dubbed them, have been one of the world’s elite jazz singing groups for 38 years.

When they solo, it’s plain to see that each is a jazz vocal thoroughbred, a master of swing, invention, breath control, and nuance. Then, when they combine their voices, there are those arrangements – as sophisticated as any ever written for a jazz vocal group – and that blend, as refined as any group in jazz history.

Now, after nearly four decades of concerts, world tours, 11 landmark albums under their own name, and high-profile collaborations with international jazz masters, they are preparing to hang up their mics at the end of 2026. But not without a Grand Finale – an international tour, now in progress, and multiple new recording projects.

“We want to go out on a high note,” said Darmon. “This band has taken us all over the world, from intimate clubs, to concert halls with big bands and symphony orchestras, to international festivals where we’ve performed for thousands.  And it’s given us countless opportunities to work with many of the greatest names in jazz. In our final months as a group, we’ll continue to travel the globe on our Grand Finale tour so that our fans will have one more chance to see and hear us live.”

A gala final concert is planned for January 2027 in New York City, with the venue and date to be announced. {Current tour dates are listed below; new shows are being added all the time.}

As practitioners and educators in the art of group vocal jazz, New York Voices have always been grounded in the tradition of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross; Singers Unlimited; and the Hi-Los – and they’re dedicated to passing the tradition on to future generations.

After decades of international touring, they have accumulated indelible memories – singing with, and for, Nancy Wilson when she was inducted as an NEA Jazz Master; performing in many foreign capitals with legendary Brazilian songwriter Ivan Lins (Peter was honored to write English lyrics for several of the master’s songs); making albums with the Count Basie Orchestra and Paquito D’Rivera; and occasionally performing as a super-octet with their dear friends The Manhattan Transfer. Then there was Darmon’s “pinch me” moment at the Hollywood Bowl in 2019, “after an all-star Brazilian concert in which we performed, when Quincy Jones came backstage and asked us, ‘Who does your arrangements?’ And he gave me a fist bump.”

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New York Voices began in the mid-1980s at Ithaca College in upstate New York, where choral director Dave Riley had an opportunity to bring a vocal quartet with him on a tour of European jazz festivals. He invited six students to come along, including Darmon, Peter, Kim, and Caprice Fox. It was Riley who gave the group its name. The response to the newly christened New York Voices was overwhelmingly positive, inspiring the four young musicians to move to New York City in 1988 and try their luck in the music business. There, with the addition of Sara Krieger, the group became a quintet.

After developing a following at a Greenwich Village club called Preacher’s, the band signed with the storied GRP label, making their first recording, New York Voices, and hitting the road in a motor home. When Krieger left the band in 1991 after its second album, Hearts of Fire, they began searching for a new fifth member, auditioning some 70 singers before being blown away by Lauren Kinhan, who joined in 1992. Two years later, Caprice Fox decided to move on to other adventures, and the group became a quartet.

Over the years, the Voices albums, repertoire, and concerts evolved, sometimes in surprising ways, embracing a diversity of styles, from big band jazz to post-bop, from Brazilian jazz to the singer-songwriter repertoire of Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder, to their own tuneful originals.

In the beginning, their live shows featured a compact rhythm section; they had no plans to perform with big bands or symphony orchestras. That changed in the fall of 1994 when the group was invited to sing two songs with the Count Basie Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. “The appearance was a hit, which led to our writing our first book of big band arrangements – and touring extensively with the Basie band,” Darmon said. “Performing with them was a huge gift. We often refer to those years as getting our master’s degree in swing.”

That same year, the group was invited to perform its first pops orchestra concert with a small symphony in Texas. “They asked me if we had a symphonic book, and I said ‘Um, YES,’ – and then quickly started writing one!” Darmon says. Symphonic opportunities in the US, Canada, and Europe expanded, culminating in an epic Christmas tour with the Boston Pops in 2005.

They recorded the album Sing! Sing! Sing!, a tribute to big band music, in 2000, leading to even more big band and symphonic opportunities. They included concerts and tours with the WDR and SWR Big Bands in Germany, the Metropole Orchestra in The Netherlands, the USAF Airmen of Note, Norway’s Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, and many other notable orchestras. Along the way, they collaborated with a Who’s Who of legendary jazz arrangers including Michael Abene, Gil Goldstein, Rob Mounsey, Vince Mendoza, Jim McNeely and Don Sebesky. Several albums document the group’s adventures in big band singing, including 2013’s New York Voices: Live with the WDR Big Band Cologne and 2018’s Meeting of Minds with the Bob Mintzer Big Band.

Other major albums include 1997’s acclaimed New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon; the 2013 holiday collection Let It Snow; and 2019’s eclectic Reminiscing in Tempo, co-produced by legendary engineer and longtime friend of the band Elliot Scheiner.

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It’s something of a miracle that the group has managed to stay together for 38 years, despite settling hundreds of miles apart in Oberlin, Ohio (Kim), upstate New York (Darmon), Long Island (Lauren) and New Hampshire (Peter). “We’re really the Eastern Time Zone Voices now,” Meader once joked to me, “but that doesn’t quite have a ring to it.” Although the logistics were difficult, they were simply unwilling to give up the joy of singing with NYV nor sacrifice the group’s legacy.

Part of that legacy is mentoring the next generation of jazz vocalists. The Voices have become leading educators in the field of vocal jazz. Darmon has taught at Manhattan School of Music and Indiana University; Lauren teaches at Queens College and New York University, Peter at Berklee School of Music, and Kim at Ithaca College.

Since 2008, they have directed their own annual, week-long New York Voices Vocal Jazz Camp, which, after initial years at Bowling Green State University and Ithaca College, found a final home with their partners at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. They also have conducted international vocal jazz camps in Slovenia and at the Bavarian Music Academy in Marktoberdorf, Germany. Over the past 16 years, the camps have provided life-changing experiences for aspiring jazz vocalists, teachers, and amateur singers looking to deepen their knowledge and share the joy of making music.

Several years ago, I had the chance to observe the group’s skill at coaching and training young singers when they were guest instructors at a special “Jazz Day” event at Long Island University attended by a mix of college students and jazz-oriented high school choruses. The NYV members spread out among the visiting groups to maximize their impact. I remember being impressed with the energy and organization they brought to the task, their passion, the high expectations to which they held their young charges, and their unfailing good spirits.

“We’re very proud of our contributions to jazz vocal education,” Kim says. “Many of these students see themselves in us. It’s an honor to inspire those who share our passion and to help them make their dreams a reality.”

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The Grand Finale Tour will take them throughout the U.S., Europe and Taiwan, including holiday shows featuring music from Let it Snow. A gala final show is planned for January 2027 at a venue and date to be announced.

After they disband, they will hardly be done with music. All four will continue their illustrious solo careers as performers, recording artists, and teachers.

But first, they plan on going out with a bang. Their legions of fans will be thrilled to hear that they are planning to release no fewer than four recordings in 2026:

• A studio recording with the Taipei Jazz Orchestra;
• A live album documenting an all-Brazilian show recorded in Los Angeles in 2022;
• A collaboration with Ivan Lins and the Danish Radio Big Band; and
• A new studio EP with originals and standards.

Enjoy them live while you can; and thank goodness we’ll always have their records. We might be waiting a long time for a vocal group that can equal their verve and joy.

As New York Voices sang in Lauren and Peter’s wonderful original song, “The world will keep you waiting / Will leave you wanting for more, something more…”  If their goal was, as the show business canard has it, to “always leave them wanting more” – well, mission accomplished.

— Allen Morrison, Contributing Writer, DownBeat and JazzTimes

Individually, the four members are involved in a variety of projects including solo performances and recordings, teaching, writing and arranging.  To learn more about the NYV individual members, please visit their websites (Kim, Darmon, Peter and Lauren).

If you are looking for press kit materials such as hi-res photos and bios, please visit the contact page.

Kim Nazarian

Kim Nazarian is a world renowned, Grammy nominated jazz performing and recording artist, educator and clinician. Besides her work as a sought-after solo vocalist, she has been performing all over the world with the vocal group, “New York Voices“ (NYV), for more than 35 years. She is a jazz voice teacher for Vocal Jazz Majors at both Ithaca College and SUNY Fredonia. She also shares her perspectives on music and life as a musician, teaching private students in her own personal studio as well as offering clinics, workshops, and masterclasses, adjudicating festivals, participating in jazz camps and guest conducting for singers on all levels in the US and abroad.

One of Nazarian's most recent accolades was being awarded the “Jazz Educator of the Year 2023” by the JEN organization. She is the first female, and the first vocal jazz recipient of this prestigious honor. In the summer of 2022, she also became the first woman to head the jury of the A Cappella Competition in Aarhus, Denmark. Continuing to climb the professional ladder, Kim has added Artistic Director to her list of titles, working with the established team of the DeMiero Jazz festival. Harkening her heritage, Nazarian was recognized as one of the top 50 most influential Armenian artists in 2012, and inducted into her hometown High School’s Hall of Fame. She is also proud to be the lead vocalist for the Latin influenced jazz ensemble “El Eco“, spearheaded by Argentinian drummer and composer Guillermo Nojechowicz; and appears as a featured vocalist on the 2 latest CD's of Gabriel Espinosa.

Besides the many recordings of NYV, Kim Nazarian can be heard on many different projects as a soloist. Branching out on her own in 2015, she released her first solo CD entitled “Some Morning“ with remarkable guests including Paquito D’Rivera, Gary Burton, John Pizzarelli and Sean Jones. Her record was met with critical acclaim stating: “This set sets the gold standard for Jazz vocalists“ from Midwest Records, Chris Spector and Best Jazz Vocal CD 2015 from W. Royal Stokes, Jazz Historian and Critic. Kim is proud to be one of the featured voices on Bobby McFerrin’s “VOCAbuLarieS“ CD which garnered three grammy nominations. She also collaborated with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the Manchester Craftman’s Guild on a concert tour dedicated to the late, great Ella Fitzgerald.  Nazarian’s work as a lyricist can be heard on the NYV CD’s and in other projects throughout the world, e.g. with Brazilian composer Ivan Lins and the Metropole Orchestra. Most notably, Nazarian wrote “World of Possibilities", the title track to the accompanying CD of Bill Strickland’s best selling book “Making the Impossible
Possible.”

Kim is a dedicated teacher of vocal technique and the art of ensemble singing and a highly valued clinician at numerous vocal festivals around the world. She has been representing the USA as a judge for the International A Cappella Competition “Vokal.Total” in Graz, Austria since 2011, was a member of the 2017 jury at Vocal Asia, worked with a highly acclaimed jury in Korea, and has recently become a regular coach at the groundbreaking Black Forest Voices Festival. Touring the globe over the last 35 years, Kim Nazarian has given concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, and the Montreal International Jazz Festival, to name a select few. Furthermore, Kim has conducted several All State Vocal Jazz Choirs in the US for NY, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Maine, California, and Illinois. Nazarian is a magna cum laude graduate of Ithaca College and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. When not making music, she loves to be home in Oberlin, Ohio with her husband, son, and sheep-a-doodle, Doxy, on her 6.5-acre farm… cooking, gardening, reading, and watching films.

Peter Eldridge
“A superb musical alchemist, Peter Eldridge synthesizes modern jazz with not only pop but also R&B and latin music.  The results are varied and dynamic but also aesthetically focused, as Eldridge’s mellifluous baritone and urbane lyrics brim with pop accessibility” (JazzTimes).  Peter Eldridge ranks “in the celebrated tradition of melodic poets, most famously represented by such disparate voices as Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Steely Dan – singer/songwriters who create catchy, beautiful tunes with insightful lyrics that are both personal and universal” (allmusicguide.com).

For years Peter Eldridge has remained at the forefront of both the singer-songwriter and jazz realms as a vocalist, pianist, composer, and arranger. He has four critically acclaimed albums: Stranger in Town, Fool No More, Decorum, and Mad Heaven. His latest studio project, Disappearing Day, was released in July 2016 on Sunnyside Records and called “an out and out masterpiece” by allaboutjazz. Disappearing Day made many ‘best of the year’ lists, including Downbeat, Jazziz, and NPR. Some of Peter’s current projects include his first full-fledged musical with the working title of ‘The Woman in Question’, co-written with Chicago playwright Cheryl Coons about the life, loves, and art of Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt; an upcoming recording of ballads with string orchestra and jazz trio, featuring pianist/arranger Kenny Werner and cellist Eugene Friesen, and Foolish Hearts, an acoustic duo featuring Peter with bassist Matt Aronoff.

Eldridge is also a founding member of internationally acclaimed vocal group, New York Voices. The group continues to tour internationally and has performed in some of the world’s most preeminent venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and has been involved in two Grammy-award winning projects with Paquito D’Rivera and the Count Basie Orchestra. New York Voices has completed two new collaborative albums to be released in 2018, one with the Bob Mintzer Big Band and the other with Brazilian singer/songwriter Ivan Lins and the Danish Radio Big Band. On the more contemporary side, Peter is also a member of the vocal group MOSS, alongside Kate McGarry, Theo Bleckmann, Lauren Kinhan and Luciana Souza (and now vocalist Jo Lawry). Some of Peter’s notable collaborations include Bobby McFerrin, Fred Hersch, Becca Stevens, Chanticleer, George Benson, Michael Brecker, David Byrne, Jonatha Brooke, Kurt Elling, the New West Guitar Trio, Jane Monheit, the Swingles, Anat Cohen, Betty Buckley, Janis Siegel, Paula Cole, Jon Hendricks, and Mark Murphy. Peter’s music is featured in Zach Galifianakis’ recorded stand-up performance  ‘Live at the Purple Onion’, and his original songs or collaborations have been covered by artists such as Nancy Wilson, Paquito D’Rivera, and Jane Monheit. This past Spring, Peter was commissioned by the Boston choral group Coro Allegro to write a piece for its 25^th anniversary (‘to be nobody’, text by e e cummings). In addition, Peter was head of the Manhattan School of Music’s jazz voice department for eighteen years and is now part of the voice faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He is regularly in demand for workshops and masterclasses both domestically and internationally, in topics ranging from vocal technique and song interpretation to songwriting and arranging.

www.PeterEldridge.com

Lauren Kinhan
Vocalist and composer Lauren Kinhan has been creating genre-merging music for years as evidenced on her four solo CD’s, Circle in a Square, Avalon and Hardly Blinking and her most recent all standard collection, A Sleepin’ Bee.  You’ll also hear her offerings evidenced in the New York Voices’ family of sound.

In 2017 she released A Sleepin’ Bee, paying tribute to the great jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson.  Focusing on her iconic collaboration with Cannonball Adderley and other earlier works with George Shearing, Lauren curated and soulfully crafted 10 tracks with pianist Andy Ezrin that are receiving much worldwide praise, “…brilliance in interpreting ballads, off-the-cuff maneuvers in bluesy and bawdy environments, whip-smart interactions with the instrumentalists—and you end up with a complete picture of her talents and the manners in which she claims these songs as her own,” said Allaboutjazz.

Circle in a Square and A Sleepin’ Bee were funded by successful Kickstarter campaigns and promptly released on her Dotted i Records.  Partnering with 8 time Grammy Award winning Elliot Scheiner on these outings produced sonically rich records with a long list of gorgeous musicians to boast.

Prior to A Sleepin’ Bee’s emergence, Lauren has been most known for her 3 CD’s of originals.  Her training in jazz and deep connection to the singer/songwriter narrative have developed a voice and style that is expressive and fearless while her love of prose keeps her dreaming of ways to lead her listeners on different adventures.  2014’s Circle in a Square raised the bar with an exquisite story book of songs and a cast of stars that would usually be a large label feat.  Lauren’s reputation and grace have earned her the respect of her peers and reviewers alike.  Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times wrote, “She has never shone brighter,” and Richard Kamins of Step Tempest wrote, “…it’s the strength of the songs and the vocals that makes the deepest impression.  Ms. Kinhan’s emotional delivery, her ability to bend a note to make a word sustain, and the poetry is a joy to return to time and again.”

Versatility as a composer is evidenced in her contributions to New York Voices CDs over the years, and co-founding two other super groups, Moss and JaLaLa.  In 2010, Moss was included in DownBeat’s ‘Best CDs of the 2000s’ issue.  And JaLaLa, short for Janis Siegel, Laurel Massé and Lauren Kinhan, released their tribute to Johnny Mercer, That Old Mercer Magic, in 2009.

In 2018, with her co-partner Janis Siegel, they began curating a monthly live vocal centric salon called Vocal Mania, made up of the amazing singing talent near and far and showcasing them at the Birdland Theater and the Zinc Bar. This popular event became a wonderful place to hear stars and unknowns alike and celebrate the vocal arts. When the pandemic hit, they took this idea, rebranded it and launched Vocal Gumbo. Partnering with Laurie Green, Janis and Lauren made their homes into recording and video editing studios and their kitchens broadcast sound stages. They produced collaborations with artists from all over the world and created ways to stay connected and creative while sequestered.  Vocal Gumbo is on hiatus while Janis focuses on her 50th anniversary touring with her TMT colleagues, but stay tuned for future re-boot plans.  To learn more about Vocal Gumbo, visit VocalGumbo.com

Among some of Lauren’s many notable guest artist appearances, you can hear her voice on the multi-Grammy nominated Bobby McFerrin project VOCAbuLaireS and Ornette Coleman’s 1996 release Sound Museum, Three Women.  She toured with Ornette, and was asked to be a part of his 1997 Lincoln Center retrospective,  “?Civilization” featuring Billie Higgins, Charlie Haden and Gerri Allen.

Lauren joined the adjunct faculty at NYU in 2018, co-directing the Vocal Jazz and Contemporary Vocal Ensemble “Village Voices” with The Manhattan Transfer’s Janis Siegel.  She served on the Board of Governors for the Recording Academy’s NY Chapter from 2008-2010.  Lauren is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music.

www.LaurenKinhan.com

Darmon Meader
Recognized in both the jazz vocal and instrumental worlds, Darmon Meader is a highly respected vocalist, arranger and saxophonist.  Darmon has achieved international recognition as the founder, musical director, chief arranger, composer, producer, saxophonist, and vocalist with New York Voices.  As a member of New York Voices, he has released numerous recordings on the GRP, RCA/Victor, Concord and MCGJazz labels.  In 2013, NYV released two new CDs: New York Voices, Live with the WDR Big Band Cologne and their long awaited Christmas CD, Let it Snow, both of which feature Darmon’s extensive arranging skills.  In 2008, Darmon released his much anticipated debut solo CD, And So Am I, and in 2023 he released his long awaited follow up, “Losing My Mind.” These solo projects are collections of jazz standards and original works, which reflects his varied interests and skills as a singer, saxophonist, writer and arranger.

With New York Voices, Darmon has collaborated with a variety of artists including Ray Brown, Mark Murphy, Bernadette Peters, Ivan Lins, Bob Dorough, Don Sebesky, Nancy Wilson, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jim Hall, Paquito D’Rivera and the Count Basie Orchestra.  He has toured internationally, performing at such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall, North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival and Blue Note Jazz Clubs (New York and Japan).  In addition to Darmon’s New York Voices touring and recording commitments, he is increasingly busy as a soloist, sideman, studio musician and composer.  Darmon continues to be actively involved in music education, working as a clinician and guest artist at both the high school and university levels.

Darmon has been the guest conductor for numerous All-State Jazz Ensembles and has made artist-in-residence appearances at various schools, including Northwestern University, University of Louisville, University of Miami, Humber College, Columbia College, University of Georgia and University of North Texas.  Darmon has also taught at numerous domestic and international music workshops including the Inzigkoven Vocal Jazz Workshop in Germany, various IAJE Teacher’s Training Institutes, the Western Michigan University Vocal Jazz Camp, the Vocal Pop & Jazz Days workshop in the Netherlands, the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camp and the NYV Vocal Jazz Camps.  Many of Darmon’s choral, vocal jazz, and instrumental arrangements are available through the following publishers: Carl Fischer Music, Shawnee Press, Hal Leonard, Alfred Music, Belwin Mills and UNC JazzPress.

www.DarmonMeader.com