Kristina Koller Jazz Band from Peekskill, NY

Always innovative and pushing the limit, Kristina Koller is making her mark in the music world. As an evolving jazz-centric artist, Kristina has developed into a highly individual songwriter, arranger & vocalist. Her diverse & unconventional approach is exemplified in her last album ‘Stronger’, where she combines art rock with jazz & indie-pop. The thematic & powerful songs radiate mental strength dealing with and breaking through the claustrophobic isolation and loneliness of city life - projecting empowerment through self-discovery & awareness. Koller creates music that crosses generations, while still embracing the history and mood of traditional jazz. She arranges tunes in unique ways, pushing the boundaries of vocal jazz. Kristina revamps classic material while retaining their essence, putting her own winning personality and fresh ideas into the music & lyrics that she interprets. Growing up just outside of New York City, Kristina was exposed to a wide array of music & dance which markedly influenced her at an early age. As such, she performed in youth musical theater and eventually branched out artistically, embracing solo performance as a teen singer-songwriter and vocalist in alt-rock bands. Her artistic thirst reached into classical art songs, opera and vocal jazz when she discovered the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Sarah Vaughan and Chet Baker. Her embrace of jazz expanded into the performance space during her high school years, joining a quartet that gigged locally in Westchester, NY. On scholarship she studied at The Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and completed her formal music education at The City College of New York. Kristina developed her musical voice in the NYC jazz scene, performing at venerable haunts such as Smalls, Smoke, Minton's, Mezzrow as well as The Apollo Theater. ? With such a diverse artistic foundation, it is no surprise that her innovation for new sounds drives Kristina’s creative flow, melding jazz, funk, rock, R&B & alternative genres into her music.