Sara Michaels - Chapter 1: Full Circle (2023)

For Sara Michaels, an accomplished jazz vocalist, singing is soulful, and her heartbeat resonates with her audience. Bringing a background in spiritual music, classic blues, and musical theater, she weaves storytelling into her live performances, taking listeners on a “joy journey” through her beloved musical genre - jazz. Raised in Philadelphia, Reading, and Atlanta, Sara received a BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She first began singing in the church, but quickly found her calling in jazz, as a performer and a producer.

2023 marks the debut of Sara’s album of nine original songs entitled “Chapter One: Full Circle”, joined by premier jazz artists E. Shawn Qaissaunee (guitarist, producer, arranger), violinists Zach Brock (Snarky Puppy) and Diane Monroe, horn players John Swana, Victor North, and Greg Riley, bassists Matthew Parish and Jason Fraticelli, and drummers Matt Scarano, Harry “Butch” Reed, and Adam Shumski.

Sara’s involvement with jazz goes beyond the stage and the recording studio. Since 2013, she has produced the Jazz Cocktail Hour at the Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center in West Chester, PA, and the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences during the summer season. Sara also produced “Bill Withers: Reimagined”, a show featuring Philadelphia jazz artist V. Shayne Frederick and Lynn Riley and the World Mix. In addition, Sara is embarking on collaborations with dancers and other creatives and art forms inconcert settings, videos, and film.

Much of what drives Sara are causes close to her heart: keeping jazz alive, helping jazz and blues artists in crisis, supporting musicians who mentor and teach children, mental health and wellness, and finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, which runs in her family. Part of her life’s work is to spread awareness of “music as medicine” and the power of music therapy in hospitals, schools, and workplaces. Beyond jazz, Sara enjoys time in nature – gardening, walking, and swimming and spending time with family, friends, and fellow musicians. She is married to an entrepreneur in the IT world and together they have three children and three grandchildren.