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Notice of Special Event

October 3, 2023

Join Us for a Special Evening of Jazz with a performance by

SY SMITH

presented by

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will honor MARC IACONA, President and CEO of Simcona Electronics and Executive Director and co-producer of the Rochester International Jazz Festival.

The Lifetime Achievement Award Gala Celebration is a special event that will benefit the children of the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester. Guests will be treated to a delightful evening of entertainment, cocktails, and dinner in an intimate setting where the Ballroom will transform into a legendary jazz club. Your attendance will ensure every young person who comes through the doors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Rochester has access to success.

ABOUT SY SMITH

Sy Smith - Now And Later (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

You may have even seen her early in her career backing artists like Whitney Houston, Brandy, Macy Gray or later with The Foreign Exchange or Sheila E, but if you've never seen SY SMITH's solo performances, you are in for a rare treat!

SY SMITH has proven throughout her career that an R&B artist can be progressive while remaining firmly rooted in tradition. Foremost a singer with a vocal range spanning five octaves, Smith began an unending succession of background gigs with Whitney Houston in the late '90s, and has since worked closely with Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti and Grammy-nominated group the Foreign Exchange, among dozens of other artists. After a brief period signed to a major, Smith established an independent label of her own, an outlet for compositionally solid and sonically adventurous albums including The Syberspace Social (2005), Conflict (2008), Fast and Curious (2012), and the entirely self-produced Sometimes a Rose Will Grow in Concrete (2018). She's consequently known for being a leading force in post-millennial indie soul.

Born in New York City and a native of metropolitan Washington, D.C., SY SMITH was studying piano at the age of seven and continued into her early teens. She started singing in sixth grade, performing in choirs and eventually in classical competitions, and during high school was part of a go-go band called Royalty Queens. After attending Howard University -- where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology with a minor in music therapy (and sang in an a cappella group called EnTyme) -- Smith relocated to Los Angeles and soon filled an assortment of touring, acting, writing, and recording roles. The year she hit the West Coast, she landed her first songwriting credits with Adina Howard's "Swerve On" and Gerald Albright's Lalah Hathaway-fronted "Live to Love," and began a long-term recurring role backing Vonda Shepard on Ally McBeal. Just as significantly, if not more so, she toured extensively with Whitney Houston, and through the next couple years also worked with the likes of Macy Gray, Ginuwine, and Brandy.

Learn more: SySmith.com