Lucia Cadotsch is a Zurich-born, Berlin-based vocalist, songwriter, creative producer and mentor. With her distinctive vocal style and her innovative band projects such as Speak Low, AKI and LIUN + The Science Fiction Band, Lucia Cadotsch has become one of the defining voices of her generation. For over twenty years, her musical universe has continued to grow – a world of emotional depth and subtle interplay that moves comfortably in the connected space between worlds of song and improvisation.

Cadotsch’s voice has been described as “mesmerizing,” making “a song resonate like crazy,” while her writing is praised for “capturing unique feelings.” Critics highlight that “the ease she conveys with every note is hypnotizing,” and place her among the rare singers who take risks in the spirit of Betty Carter. She has been called “one of the most interesting female vocalists on the European scene,” admired not only “for the quality of her voice but for the musical settings she creates and the choices she makes“, and “a musical attitude whose clarity and uncompromising nature make you want to bow down.”

With her acclaimed chamber trio Speak Low (with Petter Eldh and Otis Sandsjö), Cadotsch reimagines jazz standards and folk songs through a minimalist, remix-inspired lens, delving beneath the surface of familiar material and unpeeling layers to reveal new meaning. The trio’s debut received top ratings from The Guardian and DownBeat and led to more than 150 international concerts, including major festivals and concert halls such as NYC Winter Jazzfest, London Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazzfestspiele, and the Berlin Philharmonie.

With AKI (with Jozef Dumoulin, Phil Donkin and James Maddren), Cadotsch invites listeners into a dreamscape of lyrical explorations that, in a remarkably subtle way, tackle complex social themes that define our age. AKI is a dialogue between four autonomous voices who listen attentively to one another and allow each other space, creating an intimate environment. The compositions emerge from a collective process in which each member reshapes the others’ ideas through their own musical perspective, eamlessly merging composition and improvisation. Their debut album AKI, featuring Kurt Rosenwinkel on guitar on two songs, was released in May 2023 on Heartcore Records.

With LIUN + The Science Fiction Band (with Wanja Slavin), Cadotsch shapes expansive electronic and orchestral sound worlds with variable-sized ensembles, including their own large ensemble, LIUN + The Science Fiction Orchestra, as well as collaborations with the HR Big Band and the EOS Chamber Orchestra. Their latest album, Does It Make You Love Your Life?, features a 13-piece string ensemble and a series of visual works created in close collaboration with choreographer and dancer Meg Stuart. Through this process, Cadotsch discovered new artistic territory, including integrating movement and dance into her own performance practice.

Lucia Cadotsch’s diverse output as a musician is documented on thirteen albums to date and has been celebrated internationally, appearing in numerous “Best of the Year” lists. She is the recipient of major honors including the Swiss Music Prize (2023), the German Jazz Award (2021), and the ECHO Jazz (2017). Critics from The Guardian, DownBeat, Jazzwise, and the New York City Jazz Record have praised her releases for their originality, depth and unmistakable sonic identity.

Across all her projects, Cadotsch cultivates a creative approach grounded in attentive listening, collaborative spirit, and a deep focus on the emotional narrative of song. Her work is equally defined by the contexts she creates for her voice, placing it in distinctive musical environments, treating sound and production as compositional elements, and creating a space where the ensemble’s individual musical identities become part of the music. Where interaction and improvisation become integral parts of its storytelling.

Alongside her concert activities, Cadotsch is active as a mentor and is particularly committed to empowering FLINTA musicians. As part of the team at the Árvore Foundation and as a board member of the cultural policy representation IG Jazz Berlin, she has been advocating for improved working conditions for freelance musicians for several years. She also serves on various juries and funding committees and has been leading the Árvore Foundation’s commission since 2022.

„For any jazz musician, the most important thing (and, for some, the most difficult) is to find a voice that belongs to them alone and that, once heard, is not easily forgotten. Lucia Cadotsch found her voice — cool, clear and poised — through years of study, but the result sounds like the most natural thing in the world, as if fully formed from the very beginning. Having found that voice, the next test for the individual is to find or create settings in which it can flourish. Throughout her career, Cadotsch has explored a succession of musical environments that complement and enhance her own originality. While many can sing such standards as “Moon River” and “What’s New” faithfully and competently, she and her fellow members of the trio Speak Low prove that it is still possible, through the intelligent application of modern techniques, to delve below the surface of familiar material, unpeeling the layers to reveal new meaning. In her other regular ensembles, Cadotsch responds to the need for jazz to live in the present through engaging in dialogues with other idioms. LIUN + the Science Fiction Band is a band of variable size, performing newly composed pieces in which Cadotsch’s poetic lyrics are embedded in Wanja Slavin’s startlingly inventive arrangements. In AKI, a quartet, she resumes her fruitful collaboration with the pianist Kit Downes. Through each of these projects, she has followed in the distinguished footsteps of Norma Winstone and Karin Krog, evolving year by year into a European jazz singer of distinctive character, outstanding musicianship and growing stature.“
Richard Williams, 2023