New York Voices Open Rochester Jazz Festival's New Year-Round Series on Their Farewell Tour

The Rochester International Jazz Festival has started presenting concerts outside its June festival week. Its new RIJF Innovation Jazz Series opened on Thursday, Oct. 15, at The Theater at Innovation Square in downtown Rochester, New York, with a performance by the vocal quartet New York Voices, local station 13WHAM reported.

"We've had this festival going on for 23 years," Marc Iacona, the festival's executive producer, told 13WHAM. "The community loves it. We're told every time, 'Can you make it longer or can you have some things going on during the year?' And this is the year we finally made decision."

The series, presented by M&T Bank, consists of seven Thursday concerts at the theater at 131 Chestnut Street, according to the festival's website. After New York Voices, the schedule lists Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet on Nov. 5; Connected, led by bassist Richie Goods and vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu, on Jan. 14, 2027; the John Pizzarelli Trio on Feb. 11; trumpeter and singer Bria Skonberg on March 18; The Sergio Mendes Band, led by Gracinha Leporace, on April 8; and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. with Generation Y on May 6. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. Individual tickets cost $47.63 and a full series pass $182.43, fees included. The festival says each concert will be followed by a free late-night jam session at Vanni's Jazz Lounge at the Inn on Broadway.

The opening night fell on New York Voices' farewell tour. The festival's ticketing page billed the concert as part of the group's farewell tour, and the quartet's own biography calls it the Grand Finale Tour, running across the U.S. and Europe and culminating in a farewell gala concert in New York City in January 2027.

The group consists of soprano Kim Nazarian, alto Lauren Kinhan, baritone Peter Eldridge and tenor, saxophonist and music director Darmon Meader. It formed in the mid-1980s at Ithaca College, in upstate New York. According to its biography, it has released 11 albums, including the big band tribute Sing! Sing! Sing! and New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon, and has performed with the Count Basie Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and with big bands and orchestras in Europe and North America. The members have also taught for years, including at the group's own Vocal Jazz Camp.

The same biography lists four recordings planned for release in 2026: a collaboration with Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivan Lins and the Danish Radio Big Band, a recording with the Taipei Jazz Orchestra, a live album of Brazilian music called Sonho Meu, and a final studio album of standards, originals and pop reinventions. Release dates for those projects were not listed. The group says its members will continue as solo artists and educators after the final bow.

The festival's 24th edition is scheduled for June 18 to 26, 2027.