Vocalist, composer, and educator Ruth Naomi Floyd will be featured in a musical presentation with bassist Matthew Parrish. Tune in to this page on Saturday, February 27 at 7:00pm for the premiere presentation. After the premiere, viewers are welcome to "Meet the Artist" in a live Zoom session moderated by Distinguished Professor James Newton. Details for joining the Zoom session are provided on this page.
"Floyd's voice highlights not only her superb dynamic control, flexibility and faultless diction, but also her most important asset: an unmistakable emotional integrity that conveys her music's power.”
- The Times London
Ruth Naomi Floyd is an Emancipatory Artist, who has focused on the arts and justice throughout her career. A vocalist and composer, Ruth leads her multi-faceted ensemble and her discography consists primarily of original compositions. Ruth performs and lectures prolifically around the world on the intersection of beauty, theology, justice, and culture. In 2019, Concordia College-New York awarded Ruth an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters for her unique and valuable contribution to the arts, her commitment to music education, and her justice work.
Born in central California to hard-working, music-loving parents of four children, Matthew Parrish epitomizes the heart of jazz bass performance and livelihood. Matthew has performed and recorded with many of the top names in jazz, including Regina Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Paquito D'Rivera, and James Newton, just to name a few. His beautiful, warm, and complex sound has earned him an impressive reputation in the music community, as a performer and composer/arranger/producer. While on tour with Al Grey, Matt performed with Clark Terry, Marion McPartland, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson, Joe Cohn, and many others. You can find Matthew at venues all over the world, from New York City to Sao Paulo. Matt is currently touring with Freddy Cole, Houston Person, the legendary Saxophonist, as well as the Vana Gierig Trio with Paquito D'Rivera
