Currently and historically, jazz has boasted a great number of hugely talented female musicians. But jazz, and jazz music education, remain male-dominated fields.
The Eastman School of Music, and its assistant professor Christine Jensen, are setting out to change that with the inaugural “Sisters in Jazz” weekend on Sept. 20-21.
With support from Eastman’s George Walker Center for Equity and Inclusion, this two-day event—including concerts and workshops with world-renowned faculty and guests—is designed by and for young female jazz musicians to learn from established female artists.
Jensen, organizer of “Sisters in Jazz,” is an award-winning saxophonist and composer who joined Eastman’s jazz faculty in 2020 as its first female instructor. She acknowledges that Eastman’s event is not the first to be offered, but that jazz workshops for young women have been “few and far between.”
And Jensen is convinced that more are needed. Young female instrumentalists represent roughly half of all musicians participating in middle school jazz education, but by the time they graduate from high school, less than a third of those young women enroll in secondary jazz education programs. An even smaller percentage attend the top music schools in the country, including Eastman.
Jensen describes this as “a head-scratching situation. What stops young women from pursuing jazz education and performance? How can we find more parity on the bandstand?”
She believes one answer is in providing a safe space for young jazz musicians to learn, to perform together, and to develop confidence in the building blocks of jazz performing, including improvisation—performing spontaneously in the moment.
Jensen recalls that she had parallel experiences studying jazz in her native Canada, at Montreal’s McGill University.
“I had a great mentor in my elder sister, who is a great jazz trumpeter,” she says. “But at McGill, I felt a little isolated, and while I was supported by the male jazz faculty, I didn’t have a large female cohort. Jazz education has traditionally been a culture of men teaching men.”
Jensen points out that female musicians in the world-famous Eastman Jazz Ensemble are in a ratio of only about one in 10. Jensen wants to “make that body count a little healthier,” in her phrase, more like one-third. (The school’s alumni include several prominent women in the jazz world, including multi-Grammy winning composer Maria Schneider and saxophonist Alexa Tarantino.)
Jensen points out, “improvisation skills are critical to progressing in jazz studies.”
By empowering young women to pursue jazz performance in a non-judgmental environment, they will be encouraged to take more risks with their instruments. Jensen looks forward to “connecting with young musicians through the art of spontaneity and jazz.”
The weekend will include “a range of activities, including hands-on improvisation workshops, networking opportunities, and the sharing of sounds and stories from our guest artists in concert,” Jensen says. It will also include a review of some of the great female jazz musicians of the past, whom Jensen sees as an inspiration for younger women, “a whole new side of jazz to uncover and explore.”
Eastman’s safe space will be not only safe but swinging. Besides Jensen, the weekend’s instructors and inspirations include Eastman Instructor in Jazz Voice Sara Gazarek (a recent Grammy winner), and guest artists Melissa Gardiner, trombone, and Alyssa Falk-Verheyn, drums. Jensen points out that Gardiner and Falk-Verheyn have thriving jazz careers playing traditionally “masculine” instruments.
The workshops will take place on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the school; interested jazz lovers are welcome to attend any the workshops throughout the day. They are free but require registration.
The weekend also includes concerts by two notable female jazz artists. Bassist and composer Endea Owens (and The Cookout) will perform on Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall. On Saturday evening harpist Brandee Younger, the first Black woman nominated for a Grammy in jazz composition, will perform with her trio at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall.
If the debut of “Sisters in Jazz” is a success, Jensen hopes to make it an annual event, “creating a network of mentoring, resources, and support. I am so excited to share a beautiful weekend filled with the joyous notes of jazz with young women musicians from the Rochester region.”
David Raymond is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. Submissions to the Letters page should be sent to [email protected].