With refreshing clarity and understated excellence, Brooklyn-based vocalist Monica Pabelonio upholds and innovates in vocal jazz tradition. Her intuitive sense of jazz style, vocabulary, and her rich harmonic palette enable her to tell stories with passion and beauty, making her an authentic and inspiring artist of her generation.

Pabelonio has garnered recognition nationally and internationally. In 2018, she took third place in the 2nd Annual Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition. She was also one of six finalists in the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Voice Competition in 2017. Pabelonio has performed alongside artists such as Dianne Schurr, Kate McGarry, Peter Eldridge, and Dave Holland and performed internationally at the Jazz N’ Creole Festival in Dominica, Les Choralies festival in France, and Puerto Vallarta Jazz Festival in Mexico.

As a highly skilled performer, Pabelonio is also able to sing in a variety of genres and languages. She not only performed with the award-winning Latin jazz ensemble, Mas Que Nada, but also managed and produced their most recent album, Sea Journey.

Using her imagination and curiosity, Monica creates inventive and layered arrangements. In 2017, Alfred Music published her vocal arrangement of the song, “What Is This Thing Called Love” by Cole Porter—an a capella ballad filled with rich, complex harmonies designed for advanced choirs.

Monica holds a Master’s in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory and a Bachelor’s in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University—winning multiple DownBeat Student Music Awards in the Vocal Jazz Soloist Category for both institutions.