Washington Women in Jazz Festival

Amy K Bormet presents the Washington Women in Jazz Festival, Saturday March 29 & Sunday March 30 11AM-10PM

Featuring 2025 Artists-In-Residence Alison Crockett (voice) and Alex Hamburger (flute, voice)

Workshops, concerts and jam sessions with Amy K Bormet, Melinda Rice, Shana Tucker, Wesley Hornpetrie, Dr. Kelsey Klotz, Karine Chapdelaine, and more!

Schedule

Pen Arts Mansion 1300 17th St NW

Saturday March 29

11AM

Artist-In-Residence Alex Hamburger (flute and voice) leads a breathing and body awareness workshop for performers

12:30PM University of Maryland Professor Dr. Kelsey Klotz presents a pre-concert jazz history lecture.

Title: Preserving and Sharing Histories of Jazz Women 

In this session, we’ll listen to and learn about women in jazz across history, including Vi Redd, Jutta Hipp, Mary Osborne, Clora Bryant, and others. We’ll talk about what we hear and what we want to hear more. In a time of historical erasure, it’s more important than ever to know these histories–our histories–and to share them.

2PM Emerging Artist Showcase selected women and non-binary college students, from the DC area and beyond, perform a program of original music and arrangements.

6PM Artist-In-Residence Alison Crockett (voice) performs a concert of her music with her band.

8PM WWJF jam session with director Amy K Bormet (piano), Karine Chapdelaine (bass), and Rain Graham (drums) This session will feature jazz standards and compositions. All are welcome to sit in, with an emphasis on women and non-binary participants.

Sunday March 30

11AM Violinist and composer Melinda Rice (Philadelphia) leads a meditative workshop focusing on listening and improvising. 

1PM Alison Crockett returns with a vocal workshop open to all. 

3PM ChamberSoul vocalist and cellist Shana Tucker (North Carolina) performs a concert of her original music and fresh arrangements with Amy K Bormet and Rayah Thomas (bass).

5PM Alex Hamburger and José Luiz Martins (piano) perform a duo concert featuring original compositions and arrangements of some of their favorite compositions by Brazilian and American composers 

6PM & 7PM Open Rehearsal & Performance led by Wesley Hornpetrie (cello) and Regenerate!, a community orchestra that welcomes anyone wanting to participate, regardless of their musical training. During the performance, participants are dispersed around the mansion while audience members are invited to engage with and wander through the performance space. Anyone who asks to join is given a part to play. For the participants who do not have formal music training, you will play “anybody” parts, parts that do not require someone to play an instrument or read music. These parts are often the most fun! 

8PM Closing Session Wandering Jam, roam different parts of the mansion and improvise with Wesley Hornpetrie, Amy K Bormet, Melinda Rice, Zoe Jorgenson (bass) and others. Listen, walk, sing, play, dance, meditate, and enjoy the sounds as we reflect on another successful festival!

Host or Publisher Strange Woman Records