Merrill Hall, MU215B
Education
- M.M., Master of Music in Jazz Voice, New England Conservatory, 1998
- B.M., Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies, Indiana University, 1995
- B.M., Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance, Indiana University, 1995
Biography
Jazz vocalist and educator Rachel Caswell is adjunct lecturer in music in jazz studies: voice at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she maintains an active studio serving jazz voice majors, jazz instrumental majors, choral music education majors, and elective voice students. She has also taught courses in Jazz Theory, Jazz Improvisation, and Jazz History.
As a performer, Caswell is known for bringing a fresh approach to vocal improvisation and interpretation of popular song. She has appeared at colleges, festivals, and a variety of venues nationwide both as a solo artist and as coleader of the Caswell Sisters Jazz Quintet.
Her most recent recording, We’re All in the Dance (2018), features some of New York’s top performers, including Dave Stryker, Fabian Almazan, Linda May Han Oh, Johnathan Blake Jr., and Sara Caswell. Mark Sullivan of All About Jazz writes, “This is a great band . . . Caswell is the star, but she’s no diva. She is much better than that: a jazz musician in the company of other jazz musicians.” Her previous albums, All I Know: Duets with Dave Stryker & Jeremy Allen (2015) and Some Other Time (2003), were also well received as was the debut Caswell Sisters album, Alive in the Singing Air (2013), featuring pianist Fred Hersch.
Caswell’s pedagogical experience also includes presentation of jazz-related master classes and clinics at colleges and universities and serving as a judge and clinician at jazz festivals.