REDWOOD

A musician, producer, composer, and recording artist, REDWOOD was born Sequoia Snyder in Washington DC but spent her early childhood in Fort Myers, Florida. She was heavily influenced by gospel, R&B, hip-hop funk, soul, and pop music while growing up. Upon returning to DC at 10 years old, she began singing and eventually entered the prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts as a vocal major.

But she became enamored with the piano as a freshman and changed her major, swiftly becoming an accomplished performer and leader. REDWOOD earned tremendous opportunities at Ellington, including performances with legendary artists like Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Terell Stafford, and DeeDee Bridgewater.

A 2021 graduate of the Jazz Studies program at Michigan State University, REDWOOD has been mentored by esteemed musicians like Rodney Whitaker, Jason Moran, Etienne Charles, and Diego Rivera, blending contemporary  jazz and other Black genres with sophisticated individuality. In 2022, she performed with international Afrobeat star CKay in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and The Roots Picnic in Philadelphia. She also performed with Teri Lynne Carrington, Patrice Rushen, and Jazzmeia Horn, as a Geri Allen Gathering Orchestra Fellow, and appeared with the New York City Ballet. 

REDWOOD’s multimedia piece on Black joy, “Delight,” won the Most Inspiring Performance Art Award at MSU’s 2021 Social Justice Festival. She won the Outstanding Piano award at the Lincoln Center’s Jack Rudin Jazz Competition in 2020, and later performed alongside Kenny Barron and Cory Henry at NPR’s annual “A Jazz Piano Christmas” program. Her musical endeavors in 2019 included selection for the Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency; JAS Aspen Snowmass Academy (directed by Christian McBride); and DeeDee Bridgewater’s pilot program for emerging women musicians, The Woodshed Network. 

At just 25 years old, REDWOOD has covered remarkable ground in a short period of time, with plans to go much farther.