Leala Cyr

In the back seat of her mother's minivan, the young girl awoke from her nap. She was on her way across the country to visit her relatives and it was late in the evening. Something had stirred her from her slumber. it was a song. "Don't get around much anymore" were the words echoing in her head. It was Natalie Cole's Unforgettable album, and the girl's mother loved to listen to it when her children were asleep. The tape had ended and a small voice whispered, "Play it again mom." Taken by surprise, the girl's mother looked in the rearview mirror at her daughter. Granting the small girl's request, she played the tape again and again and again.
On her way to the top, Leala Cyr is proving herself to be a new face in jazz music. Growing up in the small town of Pulaski, Wisconsin, Cyr was lucky to have been introduced to a wonderful school music program. Beginning her concentration on the trumpet, Leala quickly advanced and began to take music more seriously. Upon entering the jazz band in her high school, Cyr also became the band's vocalist and eventually was featured as a trumpet and vocal soloist at the prestigious Essentially Ellington Competition at the Lincoln Center in New York. Leala then moved on to the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay where she studied music and began her professional career singing and playing in the local Salute to Sinatra big band. After two years of study, Cyr was voted "Best Jazz Vocalist" in the college division by Down Beat magazine's student music awards in 2005. Soon after, Leala was granted the World Tour Scholarship for the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.
Upon moving to Boston, Leala began performing professionally in the area and was also featured in Berklee's Singer's Showcase. Now as an alumnus of Berklee, she is performing professionally across the globe. Cyr's current projects include being a member of Grammy-winning "Best New Artist", Esperanza Spalding's "Chamber Music Society'" (where she has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno) and a duo with Brazilian guitarist Ricardo Vogt. Leala has also shared the stage with Milton Nascimento, Terri Lyne Carrington, Guinga, Greg Hopkins, John Lockwood, Mark Walker, Chuck Loeb, Peabo Bryson, Oleta Adams, John Secada, Nando Michelin and Byron Stripling.