Skip to content

Jazzy songstress returns to Vernon club

Kinga Heming plays Vernon Jazz Club April 6

Jazz and pop chanteuse, Kinga Heming, performs a series of jazz compositions made famous by various artists from Ella Fitzgerald, to Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole (to name a few), along with some original compositions on Saturday, April 6. The Vernon Jazz Club hosts the the Kinga Quintet at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. Tickets $20 online at vernonjazz.com and at Expressions of Time, 2901 30th Ave.

She returns to Vernon following several performances at the club.

See: Vernon Jazz Society welcomes acclaimed Canadian talent

As smooth, heady, and sophisticated as a well-matured brandy, Heming (vocals) leaves a delightful lasting impression. She brings a superb band with her from Kelowna, featuring Neville Bowman (piano), Bernie Addington (bass), Loni Moger (guitar) and Tony Ferraro (Drums)

Heming was born in Poland then, moved with her family to Amsterdam before settling in Ottawa, Ontario. While being baptized at four months of age, she screamed out, and the attending priest predicted that Heming would become a singer. Her parents gifted Heming with appreciation for music, including and especially jazz, at an early age: her father played in a jazz cabaret while her mother constantly played vocal pop and jazz records by The Platters, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and the like.

By age thirteen, Heming had studied classical piano and voice theory, and began immersing herself classical and contemporary music, both jazz and pop. She soon began performing at recitals and competitions, and helped assemble and lead a jazz quartet (called West Berlin) that played in and around Ottawa until all its members graduated from high school. She also discovered and began learning the repertoires of many great jazz vocalists, including Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, Sarah Vaughan, Natalie Cole, and especially Ella Fitzgerald.

Heming moved on to Humber College, studying voice and theory under Trish Colter, Lisa Martinelli, and Lisa Sullivan; she also served as instructor for voice, piano, theory, ear training and improvisation to child and adult students.

See also: Kinga Heming makes her Vernon Jazz Club debut

“The most important experiences during my time at Humber College were working alongside very talented and reputable musicians, learning different aspects of the jazz world, and lastly, winning the Duke Ellington Honoree award in my final year there,” she recalls.

Heming has subsequently spread her vocal talents throughout Canada: She has sung the American and Canadian national anthems for the Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Maple Leafs (in partial French, for a sold-out contest against the Montreal Canadians), the Toronto Raptors, and internationally-broadcast Hockey Night in Canada. Heming has performed with pianist Renee Rosnes, flugelhornist Guido Basso, and Don Thompson’s jazz ensemble, and appeared at the National Jazz Awards, the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada’s Walk of Fame, and on CTV and CBC Radio.


@VernonNews
entertainment@vernonmorningstar.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

16180020_web1_Kinga-2