Singer-songwriter Sonia Johnson is renowned for her nuanced voice, her passion for vocal jazz and her incredible multidisciplinary creativity. These qualities are expressed in numerous musical projects, including Le Carré de nos amours, a program of original creations in French, which won a JUNO Awards for Jazz Vocal Album of the Year in 2012. Also a college music teacher, young adults appreciate her humanist pedagogy, which stems from self-taught learning, backed by a Master’s degree in jazz vocal performance and composition from Université de Montréal at the age of 44! Today, Sonia celebrates 20 years of musical entrepreneurship through her passion for jazz and her ability to reinvent herself. A perfect opportunity to discover and appreciate the enduring vision of this remarkable artist.

Born in a bucolic setting at the heart of a country resort, Sonia Johnson was immersed from an early age in an environment where vacationers from the four corners of the globe met, nurturing her openness to the world. Music was a natural part of her life: violin from the age of five, followed by a few years of exploration, then every Sunday in the “Children’s Choir”, where her voice unfolds, while her mother enthusiastically leads the adult choir. Her singing lessons, both classical and popular, reveal a natural talent that also expresses itself in drawing, sports and her excellent academic results. At the age of 17, a decisive audition at the École Vincent-d’Indy marked her arrival in Montreal to study classical singing. There, she was introduced to the rudiments of jazz through workshops with double bassist Michel Donato (Oscar Peterson, Carmen McRae, Bill Evans).

Driven by the spontaneity that this genre allows, she perfected her art of self-taught improvisation by listening to the legends of the vocal tradition. Instigator of her own jazz trio, she took her first steps in Montreal clubs in the mid-90s, while working as a backing singer, variety performer and artistic director for musicals. Inspired by listening to the work of Nougaro and Legrand, she began to explore jazz in French with boldness and humor, setting mischievous or serious lyrics to well-known jazz standards. Her vocal improvisations sometimes reveal themselves on lyrics rather than simply using onomatopoeia, giving another dimension to traditional scat. From Montreal to Dubai, she is building a repertoire and an artistic signature that already sets her apart.

Her choice to be a free-spirited producer dedicated to wearing all the hats of entrepreneurship stems from professional disappointments experienced in her twenties. This made her all the more resilient and committed to her projects. As a producer, her discography includes the grace of her debut Don’t Explain (2005) and the prestigious album Le Carré de nos amours, winner of a JUNOS Awards in 2012 and nominated at ADISQ. We can also savor her suave voice on Triades, with Annie Poulain and Charles Biddle Jr. (ADISQ Nomination 2013 and JUNOS Awards 2014), Le cœur à l’endroit released in 2014 alongside Marianne Trudel (TOP 5 – Radio-Canada Jazz), the unpredictable Chrysalis, an internationally acclaimed record (#1 SortiesJazzNights – 2019) and Airs Givrés an EP on the theme of winter whose stripped-down style is seen as touching. On the concert front, in April 2017, for the centenary of her favorite jazz singer, Sonia produced, with guitarist Stephen Johnston, the show Dialogues Ella & Joe, a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. Then, in 2024, they did it again with Dames du jazz, a tribute to the great female vocalists. Her warm, enveloping timbre brings an airy elegance to each of her performances.

Sonia is the go-to singer when composers need someone to sublimate demanding or innovative works. Her interpretive sensitivity, precise diction and silky-smooth voice have made her the featured soloist on several projects led by the Orchestre National de Jazz de Montréal, Vincent Rehel, Lorraine Desmarais and Oktopus. She is also the voice of jazz lectures given by host Stanley Péan in several Quebec venues. Her collaborations as a lyricist extend to partnerships with respected jazz artists such as Laila Biali, Steven Taetz, Félix Stüssi (Les Malcommodes, Ray Anderson) and Rodrigo Simoes. She shines as guest soloist on Joe Sullivan Ensemble’s album Sous l’aile d’un oiseau, released in 2023.

Returning as a resident to her native Mauricie countryside, she travels to teach jazz singing and “marketing for young musicians” at the École de Musique Vincent-d’Indy, where it all began. She has come full circle, offering her talent to her community through active cultural involvement since her return in 2022. The residents asked her to set up an intergenerational choir uniting young and old (aged 10 to 80). By getting involved with future generations or her community, Sonia demonstrates the importance of staying close to our roots, embracing our potential and pushing beyond our limits.

A serie of activities celebrating those 20 years are revealed this year with the digital release of Don’t Explain her first self-produced album in a remastered version, the publication of the book La nature de mes mots (The nature of my words) and the staging of the anniversary concert 20 ans de jazz et de chansons (20 years of jazz and company) to be presented November 27^th at Outremont Theater in Montreal. This intimate retrospective will act as a musical diary, revealing the most vulnerable parts of her life as an artist and a woman.