Home for the holidays: Juno winner Bria Skonberg in Chilliwack to perform for hometown crowd

Juno Award winning jazz artist Bria Skonberg will be home for the holidays and, yes, she’s bringing her trumpet with her.

Originally from Chilliwack, now living in New York, the trumpeter and singer-songwriter will be performing at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on Dec. 23.

“Of all the things I’ve done this year, this is the concert I’ve been looking forward to the most,” Skonberg said. “My family means the world to me, and I can’t wait to see friends old and new.”

Skonberg grew up in Chilliwack, graduated from Chilliwack Secondary School in 2001, and moved to New York about 12 years ago. She last performed in Chilliwack in 2019 for the 10th anniversary of the Chilliwack Cultural Centre.

In 2017, she won a Juno for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for her album ‘Bria.’ She was also nominated for Juno Awards in 2018 and 2020 for albums ‘With a Twist’ and ‘Nothing Never Happens,’ respectively.

READ MORE: Bria Skonberg picks up Juno for vocal jazz album

“Growing up in Chilliwack with its spirited school programs gave me a love for people and adventure that has led to collecting sounds and stories from all around the globe.”

Skonberg, who’s now a mom with a two-year-old son, will be on stage on Dec. 23. That night, folks can hear classic Christmas tunes, plus some of her original songs.

“I have been having a lot of fun working on new interpretations of holidays classics, and a few originals. I’m the youngest in my family so I like to stir things up. There will be some somber, some silliness, and a lot of sass,” Skonberg said. “My musical tastes stem from the New Orleans roots of Louis Armstrong and span into great songwriters such as Leonard Cohen.”

Performing with her that night will be a four-piece band and all the members are based in B.C.

“For this show I drew from a wealth of talent that I connected with while living in Vancouver,” she said.

Jesse Cahill is a world-class drummer she’s performed with many times at the Vancouver Jazz Festival and more.

“He has an incredible palate of grooves and lifts everyone up around him,” Skonberg said.

Bassist John Lee, who graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, will join them.

“He and Jesse are a dream team together.”

On piano is Shannon Thue, one of Skonberg’s longtime friends from Capilano University and a member of Mighty Aphrodite, the all-female swing juggernaut she co-led and toured with from 2004 to 2011. Skonberg describes Thue as a “wonderful singer.”

And the soon-to-be not so secret sauce is Paul Pigat, “an absolute star guitarist and the front man for rockabilly band Cousin Harley,” she added.

Together, the five of them will give traditional jazz a modern edge.

“We are going to fill the room with love and joy and a lot of super swinging music. I can’t wait!”

In 2016, Bria signed with Sony Music Masterworks’ OKeh Records and released her debut LP, which won a Juno Award and made the Top Five on Billboard’s jazz charts. She has travelled extensively, performing in China, Japan and throughout Europe. She has shown her trumpet skills at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, to performing the Star Spangled Banner at Madison Square Garden for a New York Rangers game.

Bria Skonberg and her band will be at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 for adults, $32 for seniors and $30 for youths, and can be purchased at the Centre Box Office, online at www.chilliwackculturalcentre.ca, or by calling 604-391-SHOW(7469).