Performance Year: 2027
Nicole Zuraitis is a two-time GRAMMY-winning and six-time GRAMMY-nominated jazz singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, arranger and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police), Nicole is a trailblazing artist who is redefining vocal jazz and jazz songwriting, earning her a place as one of the top artists and “prolific songwriters” (Broadway World) to watch in jazz and beyond, or as she likes to call it “The Modern Songbook.”
As a recording artist, Nicole has released seven albums as leader. Her sixth album, How Love Begins, co-produced with eight-time GRAMMY-winner Christian McBride, won Best Vocal Jazz Album at the 2024 GRAMMY Awards and features all original music. She is the only person to have earned this award, who wrote and arranged the entire album herself. Her live album, Live at Vic’s Las Vegas, which she produced, wrote, and arranged, was nominated for two GRAMMYS in 2026. Her newest album, The Devil I Knew, released on July 17th, 2026, produced by the legendary Larry Klein, was featured on NPR’s Jazz Night in America as an “introspective epic.”
In addition to leading her quartet, Nicole performed and recorded with the Birdland Big Band as the premier vocalist before taking off as a large ensemble leader of her own, co-producing the Dan Pugach Big Band and guesting for major big bands around the globe. She has headlined at the Newport Jazz Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Caramoor, Saratoga Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s, and Tanglewood along with iconic NYC jazz clubs, including Dizzy’s Club at Lincoln Center, Birdland, the Blue Note, the Carlyle, 54 Below and the late, great 55 Bar. She also has appeared as a featured soloist with the Savannah Philharmonic, Asheville Symphony, Macon Pops, and the Danish Radio Big Band.
Nicole is a featured artist and producer on her husband, renowned drummer, bandleader, and composer, Dan Pugach’s 2025 GRAMMY-winning album Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence (Best Large Ensemble), for which they composed the GRAMMY-nominated song “Little Fears” (Best Jazz Performance). Nicole is a vocalist on the GRAMMY-winning Last Sunday In Plains: A Centennial Celebration alongside Jon Batiste, Keb’ Mo’, and LeeAnn Rimes. In 2024, Broadway World honored Nicole with the “Best Big Band Show” Award. Nicole’s arrangement of Dolly Parton’s Jolene, co-written with Dan Pugach, was nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY, springboarding her career and making her a household name in the contemporary jazz landscape. In 2020, she was named in the top 40 under 40 in Connecticut Magazine, and her weekly live stream during the Covid-19 crisis, “Virtual Piano Lounge,” was featured in Forbes Magazine.
Additionally, Nicole has collaborated with an extensive list of luminaries, including Christian McBride, Tom Scott, Keyon Harrold, David Cook, Larry Klein, Jerry Hey, Vince Mendoza, Gilad Hekselman, Benny Benack, Stephen Feifke, Cyrille Aimee, Antonio Sanchez, Scott Sharrard, Javon Jackson, Nikki Giovanni, Dave Stryker, Omar Hakim, Rachel Z, Helen Sung, Melanie, Morgan James, Darren Criss, Livingston Taylor, Thana Alexa, Rachel Eckroth, Don Braden, and Bernard Purdie.
She is a proud educator and a current vocal faculty member at NYU and the Litchfield Jazz Camp. In 2024, Post University awarded Nicole an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters. An ardent activist with a decade-long track record of giving back, her release of How Love Begins coincided with a self-produced music festival in support of Save the Sound, and all proceeds of Bianca Reimagined go to pitbull rescues Nicole and Dan have fostered through the last 15 years.
