Valerie Capers was born in New York City and received her early schooling at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind. She went on to obtain both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School of Music. Three of Dr. Capers' most noted extended compositions are Sing About Love, the critically acclaimed Christmas cantata produced by George Wein at Carnegie Hall; Sojourner, an operatorio based on the life of Sojourner Truth, performed and staged by the Opera Ebony Company of New York; and Song of the Season, a song cycle for voice, piano and cello that was premiered in Washington, D.C., at the invitation of the Smithsonian Institute, and recently performed at Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Dr. Capers has appeared with her trio and ensemble at colleges, universities, jazz festivals, clubs and concert halls throughout the country, including a series at Weill Recital Hall and the 2001 Rendez-vous de l'Erdre in Nantes, France. Her trio's performances at the International Grande Parade du Jazz Festival in The Hague received rave reviews. Throughout her career, Dr. Capers has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including Marian McPartlands' Piano Jazz and Branford Marsalis' JazzSet. And Adventures of Wagner in Jazz, a special program created by Provo, Utah's KBYU-FM -- all on National Public Radio. She has also performed with a roster of outstanding artists, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Ray Brown, Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Slide Hampton, Max Roach, James Moody and Paquito D'Rivera, among others.