I am a current senior in high school who has been playing piano for more than ten years and electric bass for almost five years. As a rock and jazz musician, I have played a variety of different gigs, ranging from interscholastic battle of the bands to performances at jazz festivals. Most notably, I joined my piano teacher, Ellington Carthan, at Blues Alley, DC’s finest and premier jazz club. I am the founder of New Generation Jazz Group, an all-female jazz combo made up of high school students. I am also a member of Paul Carr’s Jazz Academy, as well as a head of monthly student-led open mic nights Sidwell Friends School Arts Guild and Walt Whitman High School Coffeehouse.

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As a young female musician with experience in several different areas of the DC metropolitan region music scene, I have been subject to both the uplifting and beautiful qualities of music, as well as its pitfalls, manifesting most commonly for me in the form of casual sexism. Years of observing and experiencing different microaggressions eventually led me to reflect on how music can be a tool of connection and exclusion, and how I can use this to my advantage and make an impact on my communities. Thus far, I have formed an all-women jazz group, assisted with the formation of several different rock bands, regularly play jazz at a senior center, and have helped to connect countless interested people with like-minded musicians. Now, I wish to better understand the intersections of music, race, and gender, and its implications on both me as a musician and the people in my life.