About Marje Wagner

Teacher

In her studio, Marje Wagner has offered private and small-group instruction to singers, actors and presenters since 1984. Her students range in age from 10 to 85, and they sing in jazz clubs, rock clubs, opera and on Broadway.

Marje studied voice with La Scala veteran Jutta Rose, and earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music where she trained in voice and piano. She is fluent in Spanish and French, and also sings in Italian and Portuguese.

Marje was Assistant Director and Vocal Coach to the Brooklyn Women’s Chorus, under the direction of Bev Grant, for three years.

She served as Choral Director for Senior Choruses at St. Mary’s (Long Island City), JASA Williamsburg and Our Lady of Pompeii (lower Manhattan).

At Brooklyn’s Middle School 51, Marje was the vocal coach to students applying to performing arts high school programs, under the direction of John McEneny, Drama Teacher and Artistic Director of Piper Theater.

At the Alden Moves Dance Theater, Marje served as Music Director for their Musical Theater summer immersion.

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Performer

As a solo performer, Marje’s New York credits include The Blue Note Jazz Club, Birdland, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s JAZZ AND ROSES Festival co-hosted by WBGO. In France, she sang and played piano at the Memphis Melody Jazz Club and L’Agnelis in Paris, Le Smart Club in Nice, and led a Paris-based jazz band at the Bozouls Jazz Festival.

Marje has performed regularly with New York’s top musicians at the University Club in Manhattan under the direction of Tom Nelson, the club’s house pianist, and with the Swing Street Big Band under the direction of trumpeter Barry Bryson.

Marje Wagner’s ensemble performance credits include Carnegie Hall, where she sang with Kirk Nurock’s Natural Sound Ensemble, and Town Hall and Symphony Space with the Barry Harris Jazz Choir.

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Kirtan

Marje’s study and practice of Sanskrit chant has led to her work leading Kirtan, or group chant.

She has led Kirtan at the Integral Yoga Institute in lower Manhattan (with Reverend Kim Lesley), at Brooklyn’s Shambhala Yoga and Dance, and at a multicultural Kirtan to honor Dr. Martin Luther King.

More recently, Marje supported yoga classes at ABHAYA Yoga, singing her arrangements of Sanskrit chants. She accompanies herself on keyboard, occasionally joined by a bass or tabla player.

In 2023 Marje will release her recording of Sanskrit chants and original songs, featuring her compositions played with a fusion band of jazz and Hindustani musicians.