Jodi Proznick

Director, Jazz Studies; IN-PERSON & ONLINE LESSONS

Jodi Proznick is an award-winning Canadian jazz bassist, composer, producer, and educator whose artistry and leadership have made a lasting impact on the Canadian music landscape. With a career spanning over two decades, she has been nominated for four Juno Awards and was named Jazz Artist of the Year (2019) and Instrumentalist of the Year (2024) at the Western Canadian Music Awards. In 2022, she received the Lieutenant Governor’s Arts and Music Award for her outstanding contributions to music education in British Columbia.

Jodi is the Director of Jazz Studies at the VSO School of Music in Vancouver, where she has built one of the country’s most vibrant pre-collegiate jazz education programs. She holds a Bachelor of Music from McGill University and a Master of Education in Arts Education from Simon Fraser University and has taught at Capilano University, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. A dedicated mentor, she is known for nurturing the next generation of artists through innovative teaching, inclusive programming, and community outreach.

As a performer, Jodi has released several acclaimed albums including Foundations, Sun Songs and The Ostara Project —a groundbreaking initiative she co-founded to highlight the voices of women in Canadian jazz. She is also a founding member of the chamber jazz trio Triology and the cross-cultural ensemble Jasmine Jazz, and has appeared on over 50 recordings. Her compositions have been re-orchestrated and performed by a range of outstanding ensembles and artists, including the Vetta Chamber Ensemble, the Ostara Project, Chor Leoni, Sister Jazz Orchestra, Calgary Women’s Jazz Orchestra, violinist Mark Fewer, the UBC Concert Winds, and the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble.

Jodi has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of celebrated artists and ensembles, including George Coleman, Sheila Jordan, Scott Hamilton, Harold Mabern, Charles McPherson, Peter Bernstein, Seamus Blake, David “Fathead” Newman, Michael Bublé and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.