Aurora Nealand

Nealand lived an early life as all mortals have done. She was born in Berkeley, CA and grew up in a small beach house with her 4 siblings in Pacifica, CA (until a flood surge washed the house away at age 3), in the remote hills of Evergreen, Colorado (until age 10), and then back again in Moss Beach, CA (until age 18). She was raised primarilly by wolves and seals, with occasional input from adult humans. This served her well when her early life unexpectedly turned to mid-life, and later into late-life. In post-life, she aspires to return to the sea in search of early life again. It seems to be an evolving process.

Nealand has been an active force in the resurgence of Traditional New Orleans Jazz since her arrival in New Orleans in 2004. She is bandleader of The Royal Roses, the non-traditional Traditional Jazz band, which draws its approach to collective improvisation’s lineage, spanning from the New Orleans Early Jazz traditions, to the AACM, and collage-sound art and musique concrete. Nealand's other musical projects include The Monocle Ensemble - her original music project and installation ensemble, redrawblak Trio, Instigation Orchestra, John Hollenbecks GEORGE, and the Danger Dangers. In 2019/2020 she debuted KindHumanKind- a 90 minute fully staged theatrical show at the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, based on her original music. She is co-creator of the City Songs Project (created originally for Knoxvilles Big Ears Festival), regularly works as a musical facilitator with Found Sound Nation -an organization which facilitates international musical collaboration, and she has been involved with the Walden School for Young Composers (as a teacher/performer) for 20 years.  She is deeply interested in the sonification of everyday objects and knowledge-generation through the stories and history that Sound contains.

Nealand has toured as a featured artist to national & international festivals including Montreal Jazz Festival, Istanbul Jazz Festival, Big Ears Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, MPB Jazz Festival (Natal, Brazil), Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Summerstage NYC & The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.   She has worked with Pauline Oliveros, Jonathan Hart Makwaia, Preservation Hall Allstars, Bill Frisell, Tim Berne, James Singleton, David Torn, Arto Lindsey, Germaine Bazzle, John Boutte, Johnny Vidacovich and many more.  She is the co-founder of SONO (Sound Observatory New Orleans) which facilitates workshops of new music in the New Orleans region.  She has been awarded residencies at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, the MacDowell Colony, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Nealand was voted "Best Female Performer” by the 2016 Gambit awards, and her band was named "Best Traditional Jazz Band" in the 2015 and 2017 Big Easy Awards. She was named one of Downbeat Magazine's "Rising Stars" on both soprano saxophone and clarinet in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020. Constantly Rising, never Arriving.[2]

Downbeat Magazine 2017

Rising Star - Soprano Saxophone

Rising Star - Clarinet Big Easy Awards

Best Female Performer - 2016

Big Easy Awards - Best Jazz Band - 2016

McDowell Colony Resident

1Beat Music Fellow (USA)

Aurora Nealand Albums

Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses

Panorama Jazz Band

Aurora Nealand/Tom McDermott

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aurora Nealand.

• Official website
• Aurora Nealand at IMDb