Bio

Leading Vancouver composer/lyricist/flutist/vocalist/pianist Holly Burke has been on the scene in Canada and the US for decades, quietly persisting to produce creative, texturally rich and evocative music that often transcends genre.

Holly began playing the piano at age four, and wrote her first trio piece at age eleven(piano – xylophone- alto recorder) As a teenager in Toronto, Holly heard the flute one morning at her high school, and became enchanted. The Naturals received several radio play music awards for their tune ‘Serengeti.’ ‘River of Stars’ did well in radio as well. Holly has an International Broadcast Award from the Hollywood Radio and Television Society.  She’s performed internationally at Jazz and music festivals, as well as locally on CBC TV and radio, NPR, CITR and at our Vancouver area Jazz festivals.

Holly enjoys collaborating with Grand Prix Du Montreal Award winner and bandmate, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and orchestrator Bill Runge. Together, they create a unique sound. For the past year Bill and Holly have been writing new music for solo piano, to be recorded in November 2020, featuring Vancouver’s own crown jewel of the piano, Linda Lee Thomas. 

Drawing upon her many years of dance and theatre training, Holly is known as a compelling performer. She’s accrued many VO and TV credits including the National Film Boards ‘Kosovo a Fragile Peace’, Special Unit 2, Cold Squad V1, The Dead Zone, and It’s a Girl Thing. Burke has recorded on a multitude of projects including working with Terry and Scott Jacks, the legendary Linton Garner and Clark Burroughs, lead tenor of the Hi-Los. Holly acknowledges the influence of the late great Paul Horn, whom she values as a creative mentor, as well as her family and father, writer and CBC newsman Stanley Burke.

Holly’s 2012 offering “Nature Girl” was conceived during a six-month sojourn in the Costa Rica rainforest where she gained a new appreciation for nature and all its wonders. This current offering combines elements of world beat, fusion jazz, avant-pop, ambient, and enigmatic forms that defy description. Some of her wide-ranging musical influences include; Paul Horn, Diane Reeves, Hubert Laws, Claude Debussy, J.S.Bach, Betty Carter, Pat Metheny and Roland Kirk. The compositions include some moving lyric content, exciting and thoughtful improvised instrumental soloing and some infectious grooves combined with fresh harmonic content, thoughtful arrangements, brilliant performances by a crack band that includes some of Canada’s best musicians, pristine recording values, and a pervasive sense magic and mystery.

The recording of the Naturals second CD was underway in 2015, when Holly experienced a game changing concussion. Nevertheless, Holly was able to plough ahead and co-create the 2018 Kozmik Keyboards one hour keyboards and voice project inspired by Jacob Larmour and the imagery of Qigong. In 2018/19 she collaborated with her partner and collaborator Bill Runge to co-write “Lagoon” a Hard Rubber Orchestra commission with performances at SFU downtown Vancouver. Thanks to a Canada Council Grant awarded in 2022 Holly and Bill were able to realize ‘Dreamride’ Twenty Etudes for the Contemporary Pianist. This project is available as a recording, a book of scores and a performing ensemble.

Holly Burke & the Naturalz is always cooking-up new material and new projects and they perform regularly at Frankies Jazz Club in Vancouver. Holly is also working towards publishing a new collection of her poetry. Her poem-song “Love is a Traveller” is being published in this years winter edition of Persimmon Magazine. Stay tuned!

Holly Burke & The Naturalz

BILL RUNGE – tenor and alto saxophones

KRISTIAN ALEXANDROV – piano – keyboards

HOLLY BURKE – flute and vocals

RANDALL STOLL – drums

NICK APIVOR – vibes, percussion, theremin

BRENT GUBBELS – basses