LARA SOLNICKI (vocalist)  A classically trained singer with a four octave range, Lara originally intended a career in opera. She received a BA from The Glenn Gould School/ Royal Conservatory of Music where she was the recipient of numerous scholarships, studying voice and piano in the Performance Diploma and Artist Diploma programs. Since 2008, she has immersed herself in jazz and creative music. Primary teachers include Jean MacPhail, Steven Philcox, Daryl Irvine, Christine Duncan, Shannon Gunn, Frank Falco and Bonnie Brett.

One of 3 finalists in the Révélations Radio-Canada 2014 competition, jazz artist category,, Toronto-born Lara enjoys a busy schedule, performing regularly and recording with many of Canada’s finest musicians. Her critically acclaimed debut CD, “A Meadow in December”, a collection of jazz standards (released 2010), called “an unusually compelling debut” (−Stuart Broomer, The WholeNote), continues to receive generous airplay on radio stations across Canada, including the CBC, Jazz FM.91 and Espace Musique/Radio Canada. It features world renowned saxophone great Pat LaBarbera, along with a cast of top flight Canadian musicians.

Her sophomore album Whose Shadow? was launched in 2014 toat Toronto's Jazz Bistro. An eclectic contemporary jazz project, the album features Lara’s compositions, along with more traditional jazz fare, jazz arrangements of classical music − Maurice Ravel and Henry Purcell − art pop− Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush − and more.

Produced by multi-instrumentalist George Koller (Holly Cole, Loreena McKennitt, Bruce Cockburn), "Whose Shadow?" was recorded by grammy nominated engineer Jeremy Darby at The Canterbury Music Company, with enchanting performances by many of Canada’s finest jazz instrumentalists: Ted Quinlan- guitar, Mark Kieswetter- piano, rhodes and arrangements, George Koller- acoustic and electric bass, Nick Fraser- drums, Johnny Johnson- tenor and soprano sax, flute and bass clarinet, Lina Allemano- trumpet, Ernie Tollar- bansuri flute, and Davide DiRenzo- percussion. It was mastered by the award-winning producer and engineer David Travers-Smith. Stanley Péan, French Canada's premier jazz host, host of Quand le jazz est la, Radio Canada/Espace Musique, has written the bilingual liner notes.

A published poet born into a family of professional writers, Lara launched her first book of poems and experimental prose in fall 2006, “Disassembled Stars” (Lyrical Myrical Press). Her poetry has since appeared in international and national anthologies and magazines. She is fluent in French. Lara is a member of The Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ORMTA) and runs a busy studio.