
Artist in Residence: Jacob Collier
London-born Collier comes from a family of musicians and was introduced to music at an early age, singing Bach chorales with the whole family for fun. His mother is a violinist, conductor, and music professor; his grandfather was a violinist who also taught and performed with orchestras around the world.
Jacob himself entered the worldwide musical stage in 2013 when his split-screen video covers of popular songs began to go viral on YouTube. He caught the attention of Quincy Jones, who signed him to his management company. Under Jones’ mentorship he single-handedly recorded, arranged, performed and produced his debut album in the back room of his London family home. Aptly titled In My Room, it was released in 2016 and brought him his first two Grammys for two different songs.
The multi-talented Collier then started work on Djesse, a four-volume, 50-song album featuring more than two dozen artists and ensembles. The first volume, 2018’s Djesse Vol. 1, featured the Metropole Orkest. Volumes 2 and 3 were released in 2019 and 2020, and the project came to a close with the 2024 release of Djesse Vol. 4.
The first British artist to receive a Grammy Award for each of his first four albums, Collier now has seven Grammys to his name.
Musically, his body of work encompasses everything from orchestral composition to jazz, folk, R&B, rap and pop. The list of his collaborations with other artists is endless, varying from Coldplay, BTS, Shawn Mendes and Stormzy to SZA, Michael McDonald, Snarky Puppy, John Mayer, among many others.
Known for his energetic live performances, Collier turns every concert into a extraordinary spectacle. The musician believes that everyone in the world has a voice and is a musician. He often conducts the crowd to sing harmony, thus forming enormous improvised choirs, or play percussion parts. Gifted with an immense talent as well as a sheer inexhaustible creative drive, he already has plans for future projects centered on solo piano, orchestras, film scoring, teaching, musical theatre, and more.
At the festival Collier will bring a different performance every day. Though the exact form of his concerts is still being decided, they promise to show his many creative musical styles – and will no doubt require the audience to pitch in, so be prepared…