Four out of four: that's how many of Cécile McLorin Salvant's albums have earned Grammy nominations, winning three awards in the process. It seems that anything this 30-year-old singer touches turns to gold. Her newest double album, The Window, made as part of a duo alongside the New Orleans pianist Sullivan Fortner, has been acclaimed by critics and the general public alike for its incredible harmony, extraordinary authenticity and the uplifting nature of the music.
McLorin Salvant, who also stands out because of her distinctive sunglasses, grew up in a bilingual family: her mother is French, while her father comes from Haiti. She consciously focused on both cultures in her studies, delving deep into the depths of jazz as well as the traditions of French troubadour and Baroque music. She won the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition in 2010, even though she had only been active in the genre for three years. Salvant captivated the judges, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Patti Austin and Al Jarreau, and has since done the same with the audiences of countless countries, including a performance with her quartet at the Müpa Budapest Festival Theatre in March 2016. On this occasion she will greet both her old and new fans in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in a twosome to show the audience how perfectly she resonates with Sullivan Fortner. The 32-year-old pianist begin playing music at the age of four and won several music scholarships during his teenage years. He crowned his studies with a Masters at the Manhattan School of Music, and soon found himself surrounded by musicians of the calibre of Stefon Harris, Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis and Paul Simon.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest