For Laurin Talese, winner of the 2018 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, jazz is a profound, cinematic experience. Naturally gifted, yet well studied, Talese has been captivating audiences with her voice since childhood.

A Cleveland, Ohio native, Laurin was classically trained at the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Cleveland School of the Arts, and later studied classical and jazz voice at the University of the Arts—where she received a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance. Her debut album Gorgeous Chaos, produced by Adam Blackstone and released in 2016, features a stellar line up of musicians and was met with wide acclaim.

Although her greatest affinity is jazz, Laurin Talese is versatile star within many musical genres. Her talents have allowed her to travel around the globe, performing in a host of internationally renowned venues including the Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in 2018 when Laurin won the seventh annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

In 2019, Laurin Talese represented the United States as a cultural ambassador with American Music Abroad—an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and implemented by the Association of American Voices. Following in the footsteps of former Ambassadors Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and Dave Brubeck, Laurin Talese and a Novel Idea embarked on a three-week tour of Montenegro, Ukraine, and Poland—performing for audiences and leading educational workshops to bring jazz to new populations. Laurin Talese is preparing to release her newest work, commissioned by Chamber Music America in 2022.