Emily Champion has been gigging professionally since she was thirteen. The years since have taken her from becoming the youngest member of the Greater Rochester Jazz Orchestra to opening for Blues Traveler to touring cross-country in an RV. On Saturday, November 7, she brings her original band CHAMPION to Lovin’ Cup in Rochester — a two-hour set that spans jazz, blues, rock, soul, and whatever else feels right, for $10.
About the Show
CHAMPION is Emily Champion’s original project, with Champion on piano and vocals. Her sound moves through jazz, blues, rock, soul, and Latin. Her own site calls it “everything in between,” which reads less like a cop-out than a candid account of how she actually plays. A Rochester native, Champion started on trumpet at nine and was gigging professionally at thirteen. By seventeen, she had become the youngest member and only female instrumentalist of the Greater Rochester Jazz Orchestra. She went on to earn a degree in Music Business from Nazareth College, with a focus on jazz trumpet.
Her career has extended to New York City and Austin, Texas — performances ranging, in her own words, “from jazz jams and theater pits to touring in an RV across the country.” She has opened for Eddie Money at the Rochester Lilac Festival and for Blues Traveler, and her list of collaborators includes Danielle Ponder, Joe Beard, and Orquestra Antonetti, among others. She teaches piano, trumpet, and guitar for the Costello School of Music at House of Guitars and remains active across multiple Rochester-area ensembles. Her promotional bio captures the connective thread: “She brings that same sense of adventure to everything she does: writing, performing, teaching, and collaborating.”
No supporting acts are listed for this date. The set runs 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Venue & Logistics
Lovin’ Cup Bistro and Brews is at 300 Park Point Drive in Rochester — a 250-capacity bar, restaurant, and music venue. That capacity is worth keeping in mind: Champion has played considerably larger stages as an opening act for national touring artists, and a 250-person room at $10 is the kind of setup that closes the distance between performer and audience. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., giving you a full hour to get settled before the set. Rochester is part of the Finger Lakes region and reachable from most of central and western upstate New York without too much time in the car.
Tickets
General admission is $10. Buy tickets