During our upcoming Kwanzaa 2017 service, it’s our pleasure to host guest musician Michelle Jacques!

For the last twelve years, Michelle has been the Artistic Director/founder of the CHELLE! and Friends, New Orleans band and is the artistic director/founder of CHELLE’S Juke Joint a cappella ensemble. Michelle is the secretary of the San Francisco chapter Governor’s Board of The Recording Academy. Michelle performed educational programs for the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music program, interactive arts education programs at Stern Grove and children’s monthly summer concerts for Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, California. Michelle is the choir director for the Plymouth Church of Jazz and Justice.

Michelle toured throughout the U.S and Europe with the a cappella quintet Street Sounds and CHELLE’S Juke Joint, performing with and alongside many well known artists including Manhattan Transfer, Wynton Marsalis, Linda Hopkins, Chick Corea, Ladysmith Black Mambaza, Pete Seger, Al Greene, and The Persuasions. Michelle also performed in Germany, Belgium, France and in Switzerland, for the United Nations World Conference of Human Rights, Vokal Total A cappella Festival, The Gurten Music Festival, and The Montreux and Berne Jazz Festivals.

Michelle is the recipient of the City Of Oakland, Individual Artist grant for 2008, winner of the 1992, Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA) for “Best Folk/Progressive Song”, “Home Africa, studio recordings with the renown producer Greg Landau for Pamela Rodriguez, Susana Baca, Kepa Junkera, and the soundtrack for the Sundance Film Festival Official Selection, 2010 movie “La Mission” with Benjamin Bratt.