Casey Thomas-Burns - Director

Casey Thomas-Burns is a multi-talented musician and bandleader hailing from Vancouver, Canada. Casey is the founder and director of 10-woman jazz band 'The Leading Ladies' and has been described by Juno-nominated bassist Jodi Proznick as "the future of arts leadership". 

​Casey holds her degree in Jazz Studies from Capilano University. While at Capilano University, Casey had the opportunity to study trombone with Dennis Esson, voice with Jennifer Scott, and was the lead trombonist in the "A" Band under the direction of Brad Turner. 

In 2021, Casey was awarded a place in the 2021  Reading Session for Emerging Composers and the Passing Notes Mentorship program presented by the Hard Rubber Orchestra. More recently, Casey travelled to New York with a scholarship to the New York Hot Jazz Camp to study with the top musicians in the NYC traditional jazz scene, including Bria Skonberg and Ron Wilkins. 

Outside of her work with The Leading Ladies, Casey can be found performing with The Vancouver Jazz Orchestra, Jaelem Bhate Jazz Orchestra, Mike WT Allen's Space Elevator, and the the Chris Berner Jazz Orchestra, among others, or leading her eponymous jazz quartet at a swing dance. Personal career highlights included performing with the company of Hadestown at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, and performing in the Vancouver International Jazz Festival with Dean Thiessen. 

For more information please visit caseythomasburns.ca