Kayla Schwartz is a vocalist and composer born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida.

In 2017, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Studio Music and Jazz Vocal Performance at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, studying under the direction of Kate Reid. While at UM, Kayla sang lead soprano with Frost Extensions, where she had the privilege of working and performing with renowned musicians including Cyrille Aimée and Becca Stevens. Kayla performed at several major festivals and events with Extensions, including the Miami Downtown Jazz Festival (2015), the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival (2016), and the JEN Conference (2017).

In the summer of 2017, she was selected to represent the Frost School of Music at Dave Liebman’s International Association of Schools of Jazz Conference in Siena, Italy—the first vocalist in the history of Frost to be given this opportunity.

Kayla continued her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she received her master’s degree in Jazz Studies in 2019. She was a student of Dominique Eade, Ran Blake, Jason Moran, John McNeil, and Frank Carlberg. In January 2019, she appeared at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Massachusetts as the vocalist with the New England Conservatory SLUGS ensemble under the direction of Jason Moran, performing at his exhibit exploring historic jazz venues around the country.

Kayla currently resides in Brooklyn, New York where she works as a freelance vocalist across a variety of styles and performs her original music as a bandleader under the name Pilot Light.

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