Vocal Volume

Students from the jazz vocal department from the Prince Claus Conservatoire will kick-off the ESNS concert series in Buckshot Cafe Groningen on Wednesday January 15th 2025 at 20.00h. Five ensembles with various cultural backgrounds will present their own compositions and arrangements during this special vocal night.

Traditionally held twice a year in the Jazz Club of the Prince Claus Conservatoire at the Meeuwerderweg in Groningen, this showcase will take place in the heart of the city in music café Buckshot. The conservatoire students took initiative to bring jazz back to its roots in the clubs where it was born and developed!

Throughout the evening, 3rd and 4th year students from the jazz vocal department will perform 25-minute sets, showcasing their own compositions and arrangements. The students hail from diverse cultural backgrounds, ranging from Eastern Europe to Spain. They study with main subject teacher Francien van Tuinen.

Featured performers:

• Stella Mihaylova’s music blends Jazz with elements of Latin groove. Stella emphasises with all the ensemble's instruments in her arrangements to reflect the equality she believes in. Her songs serve as a journal, by mirroring her relationship with the outer world.
• Idaira sings with a warm and intentional voice to reflect on love, healing and loss. Her performances are like the feeling of a summer storm, inviting the listener to connect and celebrate the beauty and hardships of life.
• Dinner Chat is a compositional duo, formed by Alina Fasching (vocals) and Evgenii Lebedev (guitar). While exploring the deepest corners of their minds they turn poems into music, shaping them into a blend of jazz, modern and experimental styles. The two of them decided to take on a challenge by writing new music especially for the performance on the 15th of January.
• Purple Smoke Machine features Maria Suciu (vocals) and Siddharth Shankar (guitar). The lyrics of this ensemble explore the topics of love, life and the evolution of emotion through the lens of women in patriarchal society. rying to explore the evolution of emotion through different stages. Their compositions incorporate elements of odd-meter, blues, jazz and neo-soul.
• Matoya is the quintessential romantic kids next door kind of band built around the former members Sofiya Astapiuk (vocals), Christian Rockeman (drums) and Marnick Postma (guitar). Their songwriting embraces the two-sided coin of connection and sex. When life tastes bittersweet, they commit themselves to expressing the emotions that seem hard to face head-on, considering it a crime of passion.

Join the students for an unforgettable evening of jazz and original compositions at Buckshot Cafe Groningen on January 15th, 2025, at 20:00h as they bring jazz back to the heart of the city during ESNS. Entrance to the Vocal Volume evening is free.