Chelsea McBride

composer/arranger, sax/woodwinds, educator/scholar, mentor/coach

Driven by an endless need for expressing herself creatively, composer and multi-instrumentalist Chelsea McBride is establishing herself as a mainstay of the Canadian and American jazz scenes. Born and raised in Vancouver B.C., Chelsea was surrounded and fascinated by music. She started playing piano at the age of 3, and saxophone throughout elementary school. By the end of high school she had already performed in competitions at provincial and national levels. Chelsea pursued formal music studies and completed a Bachelor of Music at Humber College and a Master of Music in Jazz Arranging at William Paterson University. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Jazz Composition at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and making waves with her mature sound and multilayered approach to composition.

McBride has previously guest conducted at the Perth International Jazz Festival and Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival in support of her 2019 big band recording, Aftermath. The big band, Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School, also successfully completed its own cross-Canada tour in the summer of 2018, performing at JazzYYC, the Halifax Jazz Festival, and the TD Toronto Jazz Festival among others. McBride has been named one of Canada’s top 35 jazz musicians under 35 by the CBC and was the inaugural recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Emerging Jazz Artist Award.

As a composer, Chelsea is active throughout both the classical and jazz worlds. She is an alumni of the Metropole Orchestra’s Arrangers’ Workshop and the Bowdoin International Music Festival’s summer composition program. Her works have been performed across North America, Europe, and Australia. Chelsea has presented both hers and others’ music at a number of international conference opportunities, most recently showcasing the music of Toshiko Akiyoshi at the College Music Society/International Alliance of Women In Music’s joint conference in Medellin, Colombia in June 2025.

Whether it’s her big band (Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School), her pop-jazz sextet (Chelsea and the Cityscape) or her jazz trio (Chelsea McBride Group), Chelsea is a diverse musician who refuses to stay in one creative box. Chelsea maintains a busy binational performance schedule, and has released six albums with her groups, with more on the way.