Lena Seikaly is a classical and jazz vocalist out of Washington D.C. with an ever-growing following in standard and traditional jazz circles nationwide. She has performed with Christian McBride, Benito Gonzalez, Raul Mascarenhas, Eddie Locke and Bob Draga, and has collaborated with hundreds of local and non-local musicians. Only in her 20s, she is the regular vocalist for six bands in the D.C. area, and has appeared numerous times at local festivals including the East Coast Jazz Festival and Crystal City Jazz Festivals. She has also performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Jubilee, the Eistedfodd Music Festival in Wales, several venues in Paris and Bretagne, France as part of a month-long tour, and has participated in the Jazz Aspen Snowmass program directed by McBride. She can be found at club, bar and restaurant venues in D.C., including Blues Alley and Twins Jazz. She made her NYC debut at Harlem's historic St. Nick's Pub in 2007.


Lena is also an accomplished mezzo-soprano, having studied under world-renowned bass-baritone Francois Loup at the University of Maryland School of Music. In March of this year, she was named the winner of the D.C. chapter for the NSAL's Eleanor Searle Whitney McCollum Voice Award. In May, she went on to the national competition, and received fifth place there -- judges included opera star Nathan Gunn, maestro Joel Revzen and Gayletha Nichols of the Metropolitan Opera Council. She has a B.M. from the University of Maryland School of Music.