Dr. Darden Purcell

Origin Records recording artist, Darden Purcell is a Washington DC based featured soloist with symphony orchestras, big bands and small ensembles and jazz educator. Ms. Purcell has shared the stage with top jazz artists including Maria Schneider, Christian McBride, Branford Marsalis, Terell Stafford, Joe Locke, Walt Weiskopf, Eric Alexander, Eddie Daniels, Alan Baylock, Byron Stripling, Bobby Floyd, The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, US Navy Band Commodores, Airmen of Note, US Army Blues, American Festival Pops Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra, performing nationally and internationally, including Blues Alley, Club Bonafide (NYC), The Jazz Kitchen, Blue Wisp, Bop Stop, Chris’s Jazz Café, Blue Jazz+, Con Alma, JazzB (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Aalt Stadhaus (Luxembourg), Wolf Trap and The Kennedy Center (back-up vocals for Mr. George Benson, Caroline Shaw, Ben Folds, Sara Bareilles). Dr. Purcell is the Director of Jazz Studies, Jazz Voice Instructor and Director of the Downbeat Award-winning, Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble at George Mason University.

Ms. Purcell is a former Washington DC Air Force Band vocalist, performing in Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. She performed back-up vocals for Chaka Khan, BeBe Winans, Bryan White, Lari White, Janie Frickie, Freda Payne, Sherrie Payne, Gloria Loring, Melba Moore and Rita Coolidge as well as Darlene Love on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

Dr. Purcell is an active jazz vocal educator and clinician. Her groups have performed at the 2018, 2023 Jazz Education Network (JEN) conferences, Kansas City Jazz Summit, ACCENT Vocal Festival and shared the stage with The New York Voices, and The Manhattan Transfer. Dr. Purcell has served as faculty for Illinois Summer Youth Music, National Jazz Workshop and Mason Jazz Camp. She has been invited to present/perform at the Jazz Education Network conferences, American Choral Directors Association National conference, ACDA Southern Region conference, Virginia Music Educators Association conference, “Jazz Voices” Conference in Graz, Austria, Projeto GURI in Sao Paulo, Brazil and the JazzDays Festival in Luxembourg. Her students have been awarded finalist spots in vocal competitions, “Outstanding soloist" and “Outstanding Musicianship" awards at collegiate festivals, as well as Downbeat Student Music Awards and military band positions. 

Dr. Purcell received her Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Jazz Performance at Virginia Tech, a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Purcell released her third CD “Love’s Got Me in a Lazy Mood” on Origin/OA2 records to rave reviews and nation-wide airplay. www.dardenpurcell.com.

Associate Professor of Music

• Applied Jazz Voice
• Mason Jazz Vocal Ensemble
• Jazz & Blues in America
• Jazz Pedagogy
• Great American Songbook Composers
• Vocal Jazz Pedagogy

Degrees

• BFA Jazz Performance, Virginia Polytechnic and State University
• MM Jazz Performance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• DMA Jazz Performance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign