Tracy Cruz

Possessing a crystalline mezzo-soprano and enviable pipes, the 2020 winner of the World Songwriting Awards for “Best R&B Song” draws on a deep well of influences, from jazz, neo-soul, and hip hop to R&B, pop and Filipino fusions. Over the past two decades she’s garnered dozens of awards for her singing and songwriting. Born into a musical family in Quezon City onLuzon, the Philippines’ most populous island, Cruz moved to East San Jose at the age of five. She grew up hearing passionate Tagalog ballads and American soul and pop music, particularly Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston. Immersed in jazz and gospel while studying music at San Jose State, she committed to music as a profession and earned national notice with her 2008 debut album Feel'osophy.

Her follow up, 2011’s Universoul Symphony, spent 14 weeks on the UK Soul Chart. For this holiday concert Cruz infuses seasonal favorites with her boundless spirit alongside originals like her soaring Christmas ballad “Angels.”