LAURA CAVIANI, JAZZ PIANIST, COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR

Laura Caviani has performed and recorded for over 15 years. As leader, she has recorded four albums. The Minneapolis Star Tribune proclaims Laura Caviani’s debut CD, Dreamlife to be: “...in a word, outstanding”. Marian McPartland called it “...sparkling and inventive...”.

Her second release, As One, is touted as “stunningly fresh” by Jazz Times. Her holiday album, Angels We Haven’t Heard features a stellar Minneapolis based band, and is considered “this season’s finest new jazz cd of holiday music” by the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Star Tribune says her latest solo release, “In Your Own Sweet Way” is, “...poised right where the salon meets the saloon, with as much spunk as serenity.”

As a sideman, Ms. Caviani has recorded and toured with the 2002 Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson (Concord Records) whose band, according to the Wall Street Journal, “...could waltz into any New York nightclub and tear up the joint...”. Ms. Caviani has shared the stage with other greats as Toots Theilemans, Bob Mintzer, and Dave Liebman. Locally, she performs and records with the Pete Whitman Quintet and the jazz orchestra JazzMN, both on the new Artegra label.

In ‘97, Caviani received a grant from the Atlantic Center for the Arts to study with renowned pianist and composer JoAnne Brackeen. The following year, she was one of four American musicians selected to study in Japan at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village.

As a composer, her commissions include numerous works for jazz ensembles, (some of which are currently available through Increase Music Publishing) as well as orchestral works for both the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra.

Caviani has both a bachelor’s of music in Composition from Lawrence University, and a masters of music in Improvisation from The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. She has taught at a number of schools, including St. John's University, the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, The University of St. Thomas, and many middle schools in Minneapolis through the "Harman How to Listen Program", an outreach program co-founded by Wynton Marsalis.