Thank You For a Successful Year of Jazz Programming in 2025!
Recap: 17th Annual Seattle-Kobe Female Jazz Vocalist Auditions @ The Triple Door
Sunday November 16, 2025
L to R: Eleanor Edlefsen, Olivia Frieson, Asayo Katano, Stina Tillotson, Nora Mapes-Pigsley
On November 16, 2025, SKSCA welcomed 250 audience members to the prestigious Triple Door Jazz Club to enjoy an evening showcasing the best in local jazz talent. Ten vocalists auditioned to represent Seattle at the Kobe Jazz Vocal Queen Contest in Kobe, Japan in May 2026. Asayo Katano, the winner of the 2025 Kobe Jazz Vocal Queen Competition, featured as a special guest, which was a highlight of the show!
Congratulations to Stina Tillotson (winner of the adult division) and Olivia Frieson (winner of the high school division). They will represent Seattle in Kobe in May 2026!
Congratulations as well to Nora Mapes-Pigsley (special mention of the adult division) and Eleanor Edlefsen (special mention of the high school division) for their stunning performances.
A huge Thank You to all singers who participated in the audition process. There are many, many more gifted singers than we can bring to our event. We are privileged to be in a region with such a rich, diverse, and talented field of female vocalists.
We could not have accomplished this without the dedication and support of our volunteers and judges, as well as our steadfast SKSCA Jazz Committee. Thank you truly for all your incredible work!
See the full audition program here.
SKSCA wishes to thank all our amazing sponsors for their support of the Jazz Exchange Program!
Recap: 4th Annual International Women in Jazz 2025 @ The Royal Room
Saturday November 15, 2025
L to R: Asayo Katano, Chava Mirel, Stella Rossi of Deseo Carmin
On November 15, 2025, SKSCA partnered with Seattle Women in Jazz to hold the fourth annual International Women in Jazz Concert at the Royal Room.
SKSCA thanks wonderful vocalists Asayo Katano, Stella Rossi of Deseo Carmin, and Chava Mirel for their exhilarating and fun performances. We also thank our partners and supporters: Seattle Women in Jazz, 4Culture, Shunpike, and The Royal Room. It was an honor to feature three amazing bands led by and comprised of women performing jazz music from all around the globe.
Recap: 2024 Seattle-Kobe Jazz Exchange
Sarah Shea (Adult Division) and Angela Adams (High School Division) won the 2024 Seattle-Kobe Female Jazz Vocalist Audition and represented Seattle in Kobe from May 7-12, 2025. The jazz exchange trip took place at the 24th Annual Kobe Jazz Vocal Queen Competition.
Recap: The 23rd Kobe Shinkaichi Jazz Vocal Queen Motomi Iono
performed in Seattle in October 2024 at the Royal Room and the
16th Annual Seattle-Kobe Jazz Vocalist Audition @ The Triple Door!
SKSCA Jazz Program – Background
The Seattle-Kobe Sister City Association is proud of its reciprocal jazz exchange program that creates an international and cross-cultural experience through jazz performances and competitions.
Every year since 2000, with a brief exception during the COVID-19 pandemic, the winner of the Kobe Jazz Vocalist Queen Contest, held in Kobe’s Shinkaichi neighborhood, the birthplace of Japanese jazz, has visited Seattle to perform. In 2005, SKSCA launched a reciprocal program: an audition to send two female jazz vocalists from Seattle to perform in Kobe, one adult and one high school vocalist.
SKSCA’s jazz exchange and the incorporation of jazz music into other sister city activities has been a beautiful and lively pillar of our sister city relationship for the last twenty-seven years. Jazz vocalists were features at the sister city 65th anniversary celebrations in both Seattle and Kobe in 2022, and also at the Suma-Seattle Yacht Club regatta festivities in 2023. More jazz exchange is planned for the sister city 70th / sister port 60th anniversaries in 2027.
Thanks to support from 4Culture in 2025, SKSCA expanded opportunities for local jazz vocalists and small businesses with a Jazz Sundays series at the Panama Hotel and Tea House in Seattle’s iconic Japan Town. Read about the program here!
Monthly Vocal Jazz Series Comes to Historic Seattle Hotel
SKSCA looks forward to continuing the fantastic exchange and supporting female vocalists from Japan and the Pacific Northwest!
Donate to support the jazz program!
If you are interested in donating to support our grassroots jazz exchange, please click on our donation link here:
If you are interested in getting involved with the program, please email jazz@sksca.org
Past Seattle-Kobe Female Jazz Vocalist Winners
Jazz Audition Winners
| Year | Adult | High School |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Stina Tillotson | Olivia Frieson |
| 2024 | Sarah Shea | Angela Adams |
| 2023 | Pandemic Hiatus | Pandemic Hiatus |
| 2022 | Pandemic Hiatus | Pandemic Hiatus |
| 2021 | Pandemic Hiatus | Pandemic Hiatus |
| 2020 | Pandemic Hiatus | Pandemic Hiatus |
| 2019 | Josephine Howell | Sage Eisenhour |
| 2018 | Alex Baird | Maia Nelson |
| 2017 | Nikki Dee | Tiia Freeman |
| 2016 | LaVon Hardison | Kristina Buno |
| 2015 | Taylor Zickefoose | Alexandra Mountsier |
| 2014 | Jennifer Kienzle | Laura Rosok |
| 2013 | Leah Natale | Sofia Smith |
| 2012 | Nancy Erickson | Taylor Zickefoose |
| 2011 | Jacqueline Tabor | Kelila Gottlieb |
| 2010 | Kelly Eisenhour | Ariel Pocock |
| 2009 | Greta Matassa | Katherine Stuber |
| 2008 | Karen Shivers | Siobhan Bruggers |
| 2007 | Emily Meyer | Jennifer Hoyt |
| 2006 | Gail Pettis | Courtney Fortune |
| 2005 | Kelley Johnson | Isabella du Graf |
2017 Jazz Vocal Competition Winners: Nikki Dee, Adult; Tiia Freeman, High School; Gabriella Green, High School Special Mention; Emma Caroline Baker, Adult Special Mention