Hildegunn Gjedrem is a New York based vocalist, arranger and composer. Her brand of music is a modern take on jazz, passionate and beautiful. Hildegunn is thankful for being honored with awards such as "Best Jazz Vocalist 2005" and "Best Arrangement 2008" by Downbeat Magazine and also being selected as a finalist in the 2006 Montreux Vocal Jazz Competittion, judged by Al Jarreau. She also won the G9alt Scholarship of the arts in 2005 from Sparebank 1 of Norway. Born and raised in Norway, she was raised around many styles of music and quickly connected to a natural talent and love for the arts. She started her training as a singer at the age of 12. After performing arts high school her path took her to the renowned University of North Texas to pursue her curiosity for improvisational music. Falling in love with jazz music, she would stay at UNT to complete a Bachelor and Masters degree in Vocal Jazz Performance. Denton TX gave her an opportunity to grow into a mature, trained and experienced jazz vocalist and teacher. She also performed in many bands, singing countless styles of music and also to starting her group of original music- the Hildegunn Gjedrem Group. Her first album " The End of the Beginning" was released in 2007 on SiTMoM Records. She has performed with Rufus Reid, Lynn Seaton, Grammy Award winning One O'clock lab band, the UNT Jazz Singers, Stefan Karlsson, Fred Hamilton and many others. She has played all over the world, including the 2008 IAJE Festival in Toronto with her original music. She has performed at many festivals such as the Addison Jazz Festival, IAJE Festivals, Montreux Jazz Festival, the North See Festival and many others. As a teacher, she has held a private studio, worked for the University of North Texas leading ensembles, small groups and taught classes in performing and music theory. She is highly trained as an instructor of vocal technique, style, performing and improvisation. Seeking to share beautiful music, learn from the world and continuously grow as a musician, writer and as a person, Hildegunn left her home of 7 years to move to New York City to pursue her music further. Hildegunn is a warm, talented and genuine voice for modern jazz. Taken from her official website: www.hildegunngjedrem.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.