Mimi Patricia Snider

Jazz Vocalist, Percussion-Trained

Mimi’s love of intricate rhythms, melody, harmony and spontaneity holds her heart steadfastly in the creative and passionate energy of jazz.  Her group performances feature all of these elements. 

A jazz vocalist with a deep affinity for rhythm and the expressive language of improvisation, Mimi Snider brings a distinctive sensibility to every performance. As both vocalist and percussion-trained musician, she inhabits the music from the inside out—shaping its pulse, colour, and emotional character with an intuitive understanding of groove and ensemble interplay.

For several years, she was featured at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, performing material from her CD Thank You, Merci—a heartfelt tribute to the extraordinary musicians and enduring musical spirit of New Orleans. Her musical journey has also taken her to intimate jazz clubs and venues throughout Vancouver (eg Frankie’s Jazz Club Rossini’s Jazz Club) and Toronto (eg Rex Hotel, Emmet Ray, Montreal Jazz Bistro) where she has shared her interpretation of the jazz tradition with audiences drawn to music that is both sophisticated and deeply felt.

Her artistic journey took an unexpected turn following a minor surgical procedure that resulted in persistent laryngeal spasms and profoundly affected her singing voice. What followed was a long and demanding process of vocal retraining, patience and rediscovery. It seemed as though muscle memory had been lost.  She worked to rebuild technique and find that connection again.

During this almost 15 year period, she continued expanding her creative skillset, more as a creative outlet in place of her singing voice, studying American plays with scene study work with reputable acting schools and actors at William Davis Acting School, VanArts, the Improv Centre (Theatre Sports) as well as entering more deeply into poetry writing, percussion, jazz theory, piano, guitar and reuniting with the clarinet. 

These experiences have expanded her creative palette as a vocalist, deepening her understanding of storytelling, intention, breath, rhythm, gestures, phrasing, and the many possible dimensions of communication in performance—physical, emotional, and vocal.

Although her voice would never return to what it had been—in time, she came to understand that it did not need to.

Today, her voice carries a different character and intent:  deeper, more textured, and more reflective. There is a new weight and intimacy in its sound, shaped not only by years of musical experience but by the journey of finding her way back to singing. What once felt like a loss has become another dimension of her creativity—a voice that carries the desire to tell stories through song with vulnerability and resilience.