About Muriel Urquidi

Muriel Urquidi (b. 1986, Hollywood, California) is a versatile Belgian-American jazz vocalist, composer, and educator, and has been a prominent figure in the Belgian jazz scene since 2014. She began her musical journey at age four with piano and solfège studies, soon discovering her voice as her primary instrument and passion.

Muriel holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Voice and Studio Music from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami (USA), and a Master in Music Business Management from the University of Westminster (UK). After relocating to Belgium at the end of 2013, she immersed herself in the local jazz community and in 2017 toured to Hangzhou, China, for a three-month residency at the JZ Club with her quartet.

She later completed a second Master in Jazz Voice and Light Music at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven in 2018, followed by a SLO teaching certificate in 2019. That same year she was invited to perform one of her original compositions, arranged by trumpeter and arranger Thomas Mayade, with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra as part of The Future Is Now project. She has since returned to perform with the orchestra, including as a substitute vocalist for Lynn Cassiers on In The Pines.

In 2024, Muriel was featured as a guest singer with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra on VRT’s podcast Cooking with the Classics (Koken met Classics), performing Gigi D’Agostino’s hit “L’Amour Toujours” in an arrangement by trombonist Lode Mertens. The Dutch-language podcast, hosted by Senne Guns and Korneel De Clercq, creatively “cooks” through music history by dissecting songs and genres as if they were recipes — and Muriel’s appearance on the “Jazz” episode highlighted her playful versatility and vocal range.

In 2022, she appeared as a special guest vocalist on three tracks of guitarist Roeland Celis’s debut album Celestial Planes on SoulFactory Records.

She is one of the vocalists of the a cappella jazz quartet Nelja, and in 2025 they debuted their self-released album Emerald Forests. With this project, Nelja has been featured on The Jazz Show, Klara and the television program “Ik Vraag Het Aan.”

Beyond performance, Muriel is a dedicated educator, teaching singing, vocal improvisation, backings ensemble and composition at the SAMWD in Geel and privately.

As a composer, Muriel draws her deepest inspiration from storytellers, artists who communicate through emotion, imagery, and narrative. Her music often merges lyrical modern jazz with expressive vocal textures, exploring the intersection between song and story.

She has studied under and collaborated with notable artists including Lynn Cassiers, Jen Shyu, Kevin Mahogany, Rachel L. Lebon, Kathleen Bell, and Tracy Brighty, and has shared the stage with Kurt Elling, Carmen Lundy, Jon Secada, Tierney Sutton, and Raul Midón.

Muriel’s work reflects a profound commitment to vocal artistry, ensemble collaboration, and the expressive power of storytelling in contemporary and traditional jazz.