A three-time Downbeat award-winning vocalist, educator, and bandleader based in Denver, Colorado, Kelsey Wallner charms audiences with intimate, soulful, and inventive interpretations of jazz touchstones while placing the history of the music front and center.

Kelsey began her performance career at a young age in Madison, Wisconsin. Studying the lineage of the music she most loved led her to vocalists Sarah Vaughan, Sheila Jordan, and Carmen McRae, who would become her primary influences. While performing at local jazz festivals and venues, Kelsey earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish, Political Science, Gender Studies and Latin American Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2015.

After earning a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies/Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado in 2023, Kelsey has begun to make her mark on the Denver jazz scene. Notably, she has worked as a guide singer for the forthcoming Carmen McRae tribute album Carmen Sings Carmen!, featuring Carmen Bradford and the Compass Jazz Orchestra.

As a highly versatile performer, she is a lead vocalist with funk and rock groups, maintains a private studio of vocal students, and enjoys performing her own jazz projects throughout the Denver metro area.

As an educator, Kelsey seeks to empower her students by customizing each lesson to a student’s particular needs and goals. She chooses lesson repertoire based on the style preferences of the student, while also providing technical instruction that allows the student to be versatile in many contexts.

Kelsey’s pedagogical approaches include Body Mapping and Laban Movement Analysis, and she is able to instruct students in jazz improvisation, music theory, songwriting, ear training, arranging and audition preparation. She is also able to provide lessons in Spanish and coach Portuguese pronunciation for students interested in Brazilian music. She plays piano as a secondary instrument.