Kara Leigh's Biography Born into a musical family in Lincoln, Nebraska, I began studying the violin at age 4. There was always music in our house, whether it was my sister practicing piano, my brother on cello, my mom teaching piano, or my dad, when convinced, playing "Bumble Boogie", a jazzy version of "The Flight of the Bumble-bee" on the piano. I sang all the time as a kid, as my mom was a vocal music teacher. I began singing in choirs in elementary school. I first became interested in singing jazz in junior high, when I heard "The Manhattan Transfer." I began doing a lot of listening at that time. I sang a little jazz in high school, but didn't begin formal jazz training until college. I received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Violin Performance. I joined the Vocal Jazz Ensemble my sophomore year, and continued with it the following two years. I studied with John Davis, Mike Pagan, Chip Stephens, and Art Lande while in Colorado. I enjoyed what I was learning about jazz so much, I decided to move to Chicago and pursue it further. I received a Master of Music in Jazz and Commercial Music, Jazz Voice, from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago. I was able to study with Mike Molloy, Scott Mason, and Patricia Barber while in school. What draws me to jazz is the freedom, creativity, and harmony. I love the fact that when five people play or sing the same song, you will hear five different versions of it. Or if a good jazz musician plays the same song three nights in a row, each will be a different experience for the listener and the player. I have also enjoyed incorporating jazz violin into my performances. Being classically trained has brought a new dimension to my choice of song, and arrangements. While jazz string playing has not been widely popular, it is gaining recognition. Jazz is challenging, and very musically rewarding. I never seem to get tired of my favorite songs. I discover something new about them, and about myself in each performance. As the great jazz pianist Bill Evans said, "My creed for art in general is that it should enrich the soul; it should teach spirituality by showing a person a portion of himself that he would not discover otherwise . . . a part of yourself you never knew existed."