Biography
Born in Romania, and now based in Switzerland, Teodora Brody initially trained in classical jazz and rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s singing with legendary jazz pianist Johnny Răducanu.
Acclaimed for her extraordinary vocal power and creative vision, Teodora pioneered the fusion of jazz with Doina – Romania’s improvisatory folk singing tradition – and is widely credited with introducing international audiences to this extraordinary, deeply emotive music.
“Teodora Brody is a vocalist straddles jazz, popular and Classical with all that multi-genre virtuosity that brings with it. In a real sense, she brings the Enescu even closer to its Romanian roots’’ Fanfare
Always searching for new musical territories to explore, Teodora has performed alongside musicians including Stanley Jordan, Theodosii Spassov, Lars Danielsson, Johnny Răducanu, Les Paul, Curtis Fuller, Eric Legnini, Phillippe Duchemin, Guido Manusardi, Benny Rietveld, Daniele di Bonaventura, Ion Baciu and Al Copley. On the world stage, Teodora has regularly appeared at prestigious European jazz festivals including Montreux, Lugano and Marciac, and across the Atlantic she has performed at the US Library of Congress and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and at legendary clubs including Iridium New York and Blues Alley in Washington D.C.
In 2004 the American government named Teodora a Romanian Cultural Ambassador to the USA, and in both 2007 and 2008 Teodora was awarded the prize for ‘Best International Jazz Contribution by a Romanian Artist’ by the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company.
In recent years, Teodora’s intrepid imagination has taken her far beyond her Romanian and jazz roots into new musical territory. With unique projects including ‘From Classical to Jazz’ and ‘Classical Emotion’, Teodora has explored classical repertoire with a completely fresh approach, reimagining well-known works by composers including Bach, Beethoven, Pachelbel, Vivaldi, Bartók, Pau Casals and the beloved Romanian composer George Enescu. In 2019 ‘From Classical to Jazz’ was awarded ‘Project of the Year’ at the Romanian Jazz Awards Gala, and Teodora herself was named ‘Musician of the Year’ for the second year in a row.
2023 saw Teodora forging ahead on this unique creative path, with exciting projects including her ‘Impromptu’ sessions, a regular series of entirely improvised concerts performed with special guests across Europe, including Stanley Jordan and Marco Mezquida. Rhapsody was released in the autumn, featuring the world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra, presenting a thrilling journey into the classical repertoire.
In 2024, Teodora celebrated her achievements with Rhapsody on an autumn tour, featuring a London performance with the London Symphony Orchestra. Teodora also toured through the USA with her own quartet, with a highlight performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In November, Teodora joined forces with jazz legend Stanley Jordan for a landmark performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. 2025 will see further exciting inter-disciplinary collaborations for Teodora, to be announced soon.
