Simone Kopmajer | The Beachside Resident

By: Tobin Bennison

Article Category: Local Amp Leave a Comment

Meet a fresh young singer from Austria, whose 2000 US debut was hailed as “captivating.” Jazz legend Ira Sullivan calls her “a great young talent” with a big future in jazz.

Simone Kopmajer (“kop-mayer”) grew up in a family of musicians and started to sing in her father’s band when she was 12. At the same time she studied piano, though singing remained her first love. Early on, she entered and won various talent contests and even made appearances on television in her native Austria. As a young performer, she twice toured the Netherlands with the Euro Big Band and later appeared in several International Jazz Festivals.

Influenced by some of the great American vocalists, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jon Hendricks, Simone has developed into a true jazz singer, one who employs a wide variety of rhythms and excels in her very individual style of scatting. Renowned jazz interpreter Laurie Antonioli says that “Simone is an excellent musician, with soulful and hip improvising. She digs in and isn’t afraid to take risks with the music.” Simone received her Masters Degree from the University for Music and dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria where she had the opportunity to work with such jazz luminaries as Sheila Jordan, Michele Hendricks, and the New York Voices, and she has performed with greats such as Ira Sullivan, Gerorge Mraz, Christian McBride, Larry Coryell, and many others.

She’s currently touring her newest album throughout Thailand, but is due back January 8th and 9th for a CD release party at Heidi’s Jazz Club in Cocoa Beach, where she’ll perform with Brevard’s own Ron Teixeira and Rabbitt Simmons, and Austrian drummer Reinhardt Winkler.

Celebrate the release of Simone Kopmajer’s latest CD at Heidi’s Jazz Club (7 N. Orlando Ave., in downtown Cocoa Beach) January 8th and 9th from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Call Heidi’s at 783-4559 for ticket details. Visit Simone online at: http://www.simonekopmajer.com