Vinnie Colaiuta Honorary Doctor of Music
Jacob Collier Honorary Doctor of Music
Originally from Pennsylvania, Vinnie Colaiuta moved to Los Angeles in the spring of 1978 after attending Berklee College of Music. Just four months later, at age 22, he landed a breakthrough role with Frank Zappa, performing both live and in the studio. His work on Zappa’s Joe’s Garage (1979) was recognized by Modern Drummer as one of the top 25 drumming performances of all time. Following his time with Zappa, Colaiuta worked with Gino Vannelli, Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand, Sting, and Chaka Khan, as well as jazz artists such as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, and John McLaughlin. Throughout his career, he has recorded and performed with a wide range of artists across genres, including James Taylor, Billy Joel, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, Tori Amos, and many others. Since releasing a self-titled solo recording in 1994, he has become one of the most in-demand studio musicians, appearing on countless albums, film soundtracks, and TV and radio jingles. Colaiuta has won 18 Drummer of the Year awards in Modern Drummer ’s Readers Poll, including 10 in the Best Overall category, and was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1996. The publication also cited him as “the most important drummer of our time.” Rhythm lauded Colaiuta as one of the 50 most influential drummers of all time, while Rolling Stone listed him among the 100 greatest drummers. In 2010, he received his first Grammy Award for his performance on Five Peace Band Live by Chick Corea and John McLaughlin.
Beloved by audiences, musicians, and critics the world over, and heralded as one of the most groundbreaking artists of the 21st century, Jacob Collier has taken the music industry by storm as a singer-songwriter, producer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and world builder. With unquestionable depth and imaginative range, he plays, writes, and communicates with a human warmth, openness, and inclusivity that melt hearts, expand minds, and inspire millions. Collier’s radically joyous and genre- bridging discography has led to seven Grammy wins and 16 nominations, making him the first British artist in history to win at least one Grammy for each of his first five studio albums. His fearless approach to music has attracted more than 100 collaborators, including Coldplay, SZA, Shawn Mendes, John Mayer, Stormzy, Kirk Franklin, Tori Kelly, Anoushka Shankar, Quincy Jones, Oumou Sangaré, Hans Zimmer, and Joni Mitchell. Collier’s latest album, The Light for Days , finds him at his most present and immediate, centered on a single instrument: the guitar. Recorded and produced in four days, the album reflects a core pillar of Collier’s artistry, offering a sonic counterpart to the moments in his live shows when everything falls away to just him and the music he loves. Whether writing songs in keys that do not exist, breaking track-count limits in DAWs, or bringing 100,000 people together in improvised song, he continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, with a mission to unite and inspire people across every continent in a language beyond words. All the while, he is brewing his next adventure.
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