Isabel Stover & Mark Shilansky

Isabel Stover, vocalist and Mark Shilansky, pianist to perform at Punch Bowl; a 21st century version of a tavern named after the original Punch Bowl Tavern of ‘Punch Bowl Village’ (Brookline Village).

“Elegant.” “An amazing range.” “Continually evolving.” These are just a few of the ways audiences describe Isabel Stover. She uses her richly textured vocals and mastery of phrasing thoughtfully and purposely as a way of delivering an authentic and heartfelt experience, fearlessly deconstructing musical compositions to their emotional core.

At its heart, singing is storytelling with structure. It makes sense, then, that Stover, a vocalist with both a master’s degree in architecture and credits on a national radio storytelling show, would be skilled at choosing stories to tell and at setting them in the right arrangements.

A consummate professional, Stover is a skilled entertainer and arranger with an ear for unlocking the full potential of jazz and Brazilian standards and beyond. Her debut album, Her Own Sweet World, went to #1 on the charts in the first week of its release.

Stover’s passion for jazz was ignited after landing a spot in the Oakland Jazz Choir, a 30-voice vocal big band in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she also took classes at the California Jazz Conservatory. When she moved East to Boston, she studied at the New England Conservatory and Berklee School of Music.

Stover delights in building new structures for songs. As a lover of architecture and history, she recalls one of her favorite performances — in the courtyard at Boston Public Library — where the incredible sonic experience created from the music enveloped in the surrounding buildings elevated their breathtaking beauty.