Kalia Vandever

Kalia Vandever is a Grammy-winning trombonist, composer, and instructor based in Brooklyn, New York. Her approach to the instrument is defined by a lyric approach to improvisation and a distinct sonorous tone. A first-call session and touring musician, she's worked with everyone from Harry Styles, Lizzo, and Demi Lovato, to Joel Ross, Fay Victor, and Immanuel Wilkins. In Bloom, her 2019 debut, won universal critical accolades. Regrowth, her sophomore ensemble date, appeared in May 2022. March 2023 saw We Fell in Turn released. Her solo leader debut, it offered original works for trombone, voice, and electronics. The following year she co-founded the improv trio tilt with Isabel Crespo Pardo and Carmen Quill; their first album, something we once knew, appeared in May. November 2025's Another View, Vandever's Northern Spy debut, featured a quartet that included Mary Halvorson, Kanoa Mendenhall, and Kayvon Gordon across five circular compositions.