As part of our Jazz Masters Series, we present clarinet/saxophone master Aurora Nealand and drummer Peter Varnado with the Arrowhead Jazz Band (Rangers Jon Beebe, James Barry, and Bud Holmes) to perform traditional New Orleans and Jazz standards.

An established bandleader, composer, performer, and improviser, Aurora Nealand has become a prominent force in the New Orleans music scene since she first arrived in 2005. Combining the “formal education” – a music composition degree from Oberlin Conservatory and training at the Jacques Lecoq School of Physical Theatre in Paris – with the “informal” experience of playing music in the streets and clubs of New Orleans and throughout the northern Hemisphere, Nealand has emerged as an innovative, sensitive and daring music creator and performer.

She is most recognized for her performance on saxophones, clarinet, and vocals and has been at the forefront of the revival of New Orleans Traditional Jazz amongst the younger generation of the city’s musicians. After playing and learning as a sideman in established New Orleans Bands for several years, (Panorama Jazz Band, VaVaVoom, The New Orleans Moonshiners), in 2010 she formed her own traditional Jazz band “The Royal Roses.”

Free and open to the public, sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.