Zahili Zamora

Ms. Zamora and her Afro-Cuban Jazz Trio have headlined such venues as the landmark Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Celebrity Series of Boston, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and many more. Ms. Zamora has performed globally.

Her awards include: the Duke Ellington Award, the Wayne Shorter Award, the 40th Annual DownBeat music Award in the Outstanding Performance Category, Finalist at the DC Jazz Prix Competition, and with MIXCLA, a two-time nominee for the Boston Music Awards in the Jazz Group category.

An enormous talent and a dynamic, animated, and emotionally charged performer, Zahili describes her music as representing multiculturalism and global unity at a time of so much division and oppression. 

A pianist, composer, bandleader, arranger, and educator, Ms. Zamora began playing piano at age six in her birthplace of Manzanillo, Cuba, where she graduated from the National School of Music as a classical pianist with a performance diploma. After emigrating to Canada, she explored a wide range of musical genres, including traditional Ecuadorian, French, and South African music, then spent six years in Asia.

After returning from her international exploration of culture and musical genres, Zamora began studying at the Berklee College of Music, immersing herself in the scholarship and analysis of jazz performance and composition, and falling in love with the creative process.

Zamora graduated summa cum laude with a dual MM degree in Jazz Composition and Jazz Piano Performance, and she currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Ensemble and Piano.