Sylvia Cuenca: 2026 New Works Fest at SJZ Break Room

Drummer Sylvia Cuenca is active on the New York and Bay Area jazz scenes after touring internationally with trumpet legend Clark Terry for 17 years. A semifinalist at the Thelonious Monk International Drum Competition, she has received two NEA Grants and was a 2022 SJZ Jazz Aid Fund and New Works Fest awardee. Cuenca will premiere her San Jose Jazz-commissioned "Tempel-Tuttle" in her New Works Fest set.

Cuenca has performed and toured with jazz luminaries including Joe Henderson, Billy Taylor, Eddie Henderson, Kenny Barron, Marian McPartland, Gregory Porter, Dianne Reeves and Albert “Tootie” Heath's four drum set group The Whole Drum Truth...

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Drummer Sylvia Cuenca is active on the New York and Bay Area jazz scenes after touring internationally with trumpet legend Clark Terry for 17 years. A semifinalist at the Thelonious Monk International Drum Competition, she has received two NEA Grants and was a 2022 SJZ Jazz Aid Fund and New Works Fest awardee. Cuenca will premiere her San Jose Jazz-commissioned "Tempel-Tuttle" in her New Works Fest set.

Cuenca has performed and toured with jazz luminaries including Joe Henderson, Billy Taylor, Eddie Henderson, Kenny Barron, Marian McPartland, Gregory Porter, Dianne Reeves and Albert “Tootie” Heath's four drum set group The Whole Drum Truth. She performed with Kevin Mahogany at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and toured Australia with Lea Delaria. She has led performances in India, Ukraine, Poland, Chile, China and Japan, and served as guest clinician for the Sisters in Jazz Program at the IAJE Convention and the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center. She is faculty at Jazz for Teens programs at NJPAC, Stanford Jazz Workshop and Jazz Camp West.

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