THE JAZZTOK STAR BRINGS HER HOLIDAY MAGIC TO THE LINDE CENTER
15-second hook. But I want my music to be comforting, and I wanted to create something that people could put on if they ' ve had a terrible day, and it would chill them out. That’ s what people have told me online and in person that my music does for them.
Your Snow! EP brings a lot of vocal richness and warmth to holiday standards that people hold close to their hearts. What does performing holiday music mean to you? I love the holidays. Living in New York the past couple of years, I find it very romantic and very lovely. I think the holidays are a great time musically. For most of my upbringing, the holidays were the time where everyone was suddenly listening to Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. It wasn ' t just me. I ' ve had so many friends text me in the last couple of years saying,“ We ' re at our family Christmas playing your album.” This music has a lot of nostalgic meaning for people, and the fact that this can be a part of them making new memories is great.
Being a prominent new voice who is bringing this musical tradition to new generations, how does it feel to know you’ ll be performing at a world-renowned institution and venue like Tanglewood? It means so much. I didn ' t grow up on the East Coast. I grew up in Illinois. So, the way that I knew about Tanglewood was because of James Taylor. I ' ve always imagined it as a very dreamy, Wonderland-type place because of the lore I ' ve heard about it. But I ' ve never actually been there, so it ' s such an honor. It ' s been really crazy over the last few years to go from gigging in tiny bars and clubs in New York five nights a week and getting paid with a free meal. It ' s still very surreal to be playing these venues like Tanglewood or the Kennedy Center. I just can ' t wait, especially with it being a holiday show. I think it ' s going to have a very warm and magical feeling.
Looking back to when you were at that five-nights-a-week gigging stage of your career, what would your words of advice be to an artist in a similar position? I would say,“ Be delusional!” That’ s what I always tell people, and it ' s what I always try to do myself. When I was playing those restaurant gigs where everyone was talking so loudly no one could hear me singing, and I was lugging this giant speaker on my back on the subway, I felt so certain that I was going to make it big— whatever that means. I think you just have to have that self-confidence. It gives you the drive to keep moving forward and also to reach out to people. I sent so many cold emails, including to my manager and producer [ Grammy ®-winner Matt Pierson ], thinking he would never respond to me. And now he ' s my manager and producer. I also think using social media to your advantage is really important for artists right now. I know a lot of artists don ' t love social media. I don ' t always love it. It ' s not the best in every way. But I think it ' s amazing in terms of the doors that it can knock down. n
— Benjamin Lerner
TLI Jazz presents Stella Cole in Studio E of the Linde Center for Music and Learning on Saturday, December 13, at 7 p. m. bso. org / tli
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Holiday 2025 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 9