Marc Secara (born 20 February 1976) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

singer and recording artist known for

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, American pop music, and German popular repertoire. He is also a member of the German singing group the Berlin Voices.

Early life

Marc Secara was born in Bad Harzburg (Niedersachsen) and raised in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. At the age of 15 while in school at the gymnasium he founded his own band. After school and civil service he studied music (saxophone) at the

Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg The Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg (formerly ''Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg'') is a music conservatoire based in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. The conservatoire has a secondary building in Augsburg. The Hochschule The Hochschule für ...

. He first met Peter Herbolzheimer at that school who would become a big influence on Secara's development as an artist. Secara's interests gravitated more towards voice performance and at the age of 20 he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and attended

Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

studying voice, jazz, and popular music. In 2000 he received an IASJ scholarship and a period of study at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

(USA). From 1997 to 1999 he was a soloist and member of the jazz choir vocal group member for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (Bujazzo) under the direction of Peter Herbolzheimer.

Professional career

In 1998 Marc Secara founded the Berlin Voices, a four-part vocal group much like Manhattan Transfer with two female and two male voices. The group released two critically acclaimed CDs: ''The Music of Billy Joel'', and ''About Christmas''. The group has also toured and recorded with the HR Big Band (

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

) and the Berlin Jazz Orchestra. In 2001 his "Marc Secara Group" was the first Western Jazz band which had a tour in the Islamic Republic of Iran. After another Iranian tour in 2002, he won with his Marc Secara Group 1st prize as "Best Artist" of the nationwide music festival "Fader". In 2004 Secara toured Europe as a "cultural ambassador" of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

and performed four concerts for the former Federal President

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia fro ...

and

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; 22 February 1943 – 1 February 2025) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU ...

. In 2006 he sang in duet with baritone

Thomas Quasthoff Thomas Quasthoff (, born 9 November 1959) is a German bass-baritone. Quasthoff has a range of musical interest from Bach cantatas, to lieder, and solo jazz improvisations. Born with severe birth defects caused by thalidomide, Quasthoff is , an ...

at the Federal President's Summer Party. In 2006 he was also a solo artist on tour in Germany with the HR Big Band, strings and a choir; Secara was one of the youngest guest soloists to appear with the Hessian Radio Jazz Orchestra. This was part of the

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born ; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-kno ...

(Germany) tour nationwide, the first major one in 20 years. In 2008 Secara recorded and toured with actor and singer

Manfred Krug Manfred Krug (; 8 February 1937 – 21 October 2016) was a German actor, singer and author. Life and work Born in Duisburg, Krug moved to East Germany at the age of 13, and worked at a steel plant before beginning his acting career on the stage ...

. In 2009 he composed ''Killing Is My Business, Honey'' with Hoku Ho and Rick Kavanian for the movie ''

Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling ''Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling'' (''Killing Is My Business, Honey'') is a German comedy film directed by . Plot Enrico Puzzo (Franco Nero) is an eccentric Italian author who claims he knows Sicilian Mafia, the Mafia from inside. Based on ...

''. With Berlin Jazz Orchestra he sang the theme song for the movie. In 2009 Marc Secara entered a production contract with Bert Kaempfert Music Publishing. Together with a German all star jazz orchestra, he recorded a CD with Bert Kaempfert's music. In 2010 was the presentation of the new stage show ''Now and Forever'', featuring the music from the CD. Secara is featured on the 2018 release ''Origin Suite'' as a collaboration with composer Jack Cooper; he supplies prominent

vocalese Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation. Definition Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...

parts on four of the twelve tracks for the album.

Berlin Jazz Orchestra

Since 2000 Secara has been working with his own big band, the Berlin Jazz Orchestra. The ensemble is under the direction of former RIAS Big Band conductor Jiggs Whigham. In collaboration with the music agent Jacky Wagner and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) their first CDs were released in 2004 and 2008; the albums '' Update'' and '' You're Everything'' with scores commissioned from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

arranger Steve Gray. 2005 celebrated the Berlin Jazz Orchestra's 5th Anniversary as part of a broadcasting Germany, moderated by

Alfred Biolek Alfred Franz Maria Biolek (10 July 1934 – 23 July 2021) was a German entertainer and television producer. Biolek held a PhD in law and was an honorary professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. He received many awards for his work on tel ...

. In 2009 Secara and the Berlin Jazz Orchestra toured Estonia, Azerbaijan and performed in numerous concert halls in Germany. In 2012 the concert video '' Strangers In Night - The Music Of Bert Kaempfert'' was produced with the Berlin Jazz Orchestra with Secara's repertoire completed for the earlier recording from 2010. In November 2014 the group toured Germany with the

New York Voices New York Voices is a jazz vocal group that was founded in 1987 by Peter Eldridge, Caprice Fox, Sara Krieger, Darmon Meader, and Kim Nazarian. All except Krieger were members of an alumni group from Ithaca College that toured Europe in 1986. The ...

. In 2014 Secara hired arranger and conductor Jack Cooper to collaborate on the new ''Songs of Berlin'' BJO project and CD recording. Secara's ''Songs of Berlin'' project includes noted hit tunes of German artists such as

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

Hildegard Knef Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (; 28 December 19251 February 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English-language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff. Early years Hildegard Knef was born in Ulm in 19 ...

, and Peter Fox.

Education and teaching

Since 2008, he is a vocal coach of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (BuJazzO), the Landesjugendjazzorchester Brandenburg and the State Youth Jazz Orchestra Berlin. Until 2019 he was the musical director for the Young Voices Brandenburg. In 2013 he was appointed professor of singing and ensemble at the SRH Hochschule der populären Künste (Berlin). Marc Secara resides in

, Germany.

Discography

Albums/DVD

* 1997 ''Faces'' – Out of Mind (Soloist) * 1998 ''Gerling'' – ( BuJazzO) Soloist * 1999 ''On Tour'' – ( BuJazzO) Soloist und Vokalgruppe * 1999 ''Swinging & Singing'' ( BuJazzO) (Casino Lights) Soloist * 2002 ''Weihnachts-Krug –

'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

) Sideman * 2004 '' Update'' (44 Records) Soloist/Producer * 2006 ''Strangers in the Night – the Music of Bert Kaempfert'' ( Polydor/Universal) Soloist * 2007 ''States of Mind – Berlin Voices'' (Van Dyck Records) Soloist * 2008 '' You're Everything'' ( RBB Kulturradio) Soloist/Producer * 2009 ''

'' (

) Soundtrack/Soloist * 2010 ''About Christmas – Berlin Voices'' ( Hänssler Classic) Soloist * 2011 ''Now and Forever – Secara meets Kaempfert'' (Silver Spot Records) Soloist * 2012 '' Strangers In Night - The Music Of Bert Kaempfert'' – DVD ( Polydor/Universal)- Soloist * 2016 ''Olympics – Games of Passion'' – (Phina Music) Soloist"Victory" by Wolf Kerschek, featuring Marc Secara & NDR Big band
on YouTube * 2018 '' Origin Suite'' (

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

) featured with the Michael Waldrop Big Band * 2018 ''A Soul Journey'' (

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

) as musical director * 2018 ''Fruit of Passion'' (Jazz Sick Records) featured with Ro Gebhardt * 2018 ''Me and My World'' ( Acte Préalable) featured with Katarzyna Dondalska * 2020 ''Today & Yesterday: The Bert Kaempfert Anthology'' (

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

) * 2021 '' Songs of Berlin'' (GAM Music) * 2022 ''Crosscurrent'' (Schoener Horen Music)

Singles

* 1997: ''Faces'' – Out of Mind (Soloist) * 2009: ''

'' (Soundtrack/Soloist)

References

External links

Marc Secara, official Website
* * *

Marc Secara and his Berlin Jazz Orchestra
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secara, Marc 1976 births Living people Swing singers Jazz-pop singers Traditional pop music singers Singers from Berlin German jazz singers German pop singers English-language singers from Germany German tenors 21st-century German male singers German male jazz musicians Berlin Jazz Orchestra members