PaviElle French (PaviElle) is a professional vocalist and interdisciplinary artist from the historically Black Rondo neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Known for performing with an accompanying 5-piece soul band, PaviElle has a dynamic, distinctive, musical voice rooted in jazz, soul and hip hop.
PaviElle began performing in 1989 at the age of 5. She received vocal and piano lessons at Walker West Music Academy and did choral work with Robert Robinson’s “City Songs” before attending Mississippi Creative Arts School, where she received training in dance, acting, and musical theater. As a teen, PaviElle also received formal acting and theater element training from one of the country’s premiere Black Theaters, Penumbra Theatre.
In 2009, PaviElle went solo, and in September 2014 she released her first album, Fear Not. An homage to her late mother and father, Fear Not received positive reviews and helped launch her career.
As a singer, dancer, and actor, PaviElle has performed at theaters such as the Fitzgerald Theater, Penumbra Theatre, Orpheum Theatre, Ordway Theater, and Guthrie Theater. In 2016, PaviElle won a Sage Cowles Award for Dance and Choreography and, in 2019, an Emmy Award for a documentary about her life and career.
PaviElle was commissioned in 2020 to write another symphony by community art supporters Bill and Susan Sands, in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. Sands of Time was premiered in June 2022 at the Ordway Center in Saint Paul, MN.
PaviElle’s second album, SOVEREIGN, was written, recorded, and independently produced between 2020 and 2021. Thematically focused on the political and social unrest during the pandemic and following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, SOVEREIGN was met with positive reviews.
In 2021, PaviElle partnered with six MN arts organizations: The American Composers Forum, The Schubert Club, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Walker-West Music Academy, Academy of Prince-Purple Playground, and TruArtSpeaks (funded by the NEA). That same year, she was also honored with a Jerome fellowship. In early 2022, she launched an Artist Residency through ACF based on The SOVEREIGN Suite.
The Schubert Club also commissioned The SOVEREIGN Suite in 2021. The SOVEREIGN Suite is a continuation of 2021’s SOVEREIGN album, focusing on themes of hope for liberty and a more unified future for Black people, and was first performed at the Fitzgerald Theatre in Saint Paul, MN. PaviElle collaborated with filmmaker Peter Myers for a second documentary and music video released in December 2023.
PaviElle is currently a teaching artist and mentor to several young performing artists in the Twin Cities, and over the years she has worked with prestigious art schools such as The Experimental Institute, the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts, the MacPhail Center For Music, and the Academy of Prince. She also most recently joined Jazz88 as DJ Lady Luca, during Jazz88’s 12-hour Blues Block. You can catch her show, Luca’s Juke Joint on Friday evenings from 9 pm to 11 pm on 88.5 KBEM FM, or streaming live at jazz88.fm.
For bookings and inquiries, contact [email protected].
