voice
Luiza Zan has been awarded important prizes in Romania and internationally in recent years. In addition to the numerous prizes of domestic jazz contests, Luiza Zan won the second prize in the Shure Jazz Competition at the Jazz Festival of Montreux, Switzerland, the oldest festival in Europe and one of the most acclaimed world festivals. In July 2004, she won the first prize of the Golden Stag Festival, in the vocal interpretation section, alongside the Slang band. She was also awarded Musician of the Year in 2011 at the Jazz Prize Gala (organized in spring 2012).
Luiza Zan’s repertoire includes several genres, from new jazz, inspired by Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves and notably Nat King Cole; to soul&funk, inspired by Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu; and hip hop & R&b inspired by D’Angelo, Angie Stone, Bilal. Luiza Zan has performed with highly-acclaimed artists, like Sorin Romanescu, Mircea Tiberian, Pedro Negrescu, Romeo Cosma, Alex Man, Abert Tajti, Liviu Butoi, Nicolas Simion, Arthur Balogh, Cătălin Milea, Sebastian Burneci, Vlad Popescu, as well as Rick Condit, Dave Stamps, Petras Geniusas, Corrine Chapelle, Gyarfas Istvan, Berkes Balazs, Peter Sarik. Luiza Zan is also a composer. She wrote the original music for Carambole, The Happy Circus, and Maria (nominated for the category of Best Documentary at the Locarno Film Festival in 2013), as well as the scores for the play The Affliction directed by Radu Afrim, currently on stage at the National Theater of Bucharest, in which Luiza Zan herself is the leading actress. Luiza Zan taught jazz as an associate professor to the University of Music in Bucharest from 2008 to 2010. She was the first professor of vocal jazz in Romania.
