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Washington, DC-born and North Carolina-raised, GRAMMY-nominated vocalist, composer and educator Christie Dashiell lives at the musical crossroads of jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel and soul. Known for her improvisational prowess and effortlessly rich and clear tone, she has become one of the most sought-after artists on the scene today. Growing up in a musical family, Christie has been singing all of her life. She is the third of four multi-talented and musical children of jazz bassist, Carroll Dashiell, Jr. Her musical lineage is deeply rooted.

Christie is a graduate of Howard University and the Manhattan School of Music. While at Howard, Christie sang in the university’s premier vocal jazz ensemble, Afro-Blue. As a member of the Afro-Blue, she appeared on NBC’s “The Sing Off.” She has twice received recognition in DownBeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards as Outstanding Soloist and Best Vocalist in the Graduate College division and was selected as a semifinalist in the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Vocals Competition.

Christie’s long awaited sophomore album, Journey In Black, recently nominated for a GRAMMY award in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album, and deemed a “masterpiece” by Downbeat Magazine, features seven original compositions and two arrangements that explore themes of freedom, legacy, grief and joy. Funded in part by Chamber Music America’s Performance Plus Grant, the collection of music fuses the sounds of improvised music and various styles of Black American Music. Titled Journey In Black, the album boasts a stellar cast of musicians, including Shedrick Mitchell, Marquis Hill, Allyn Johnson, Romeir Mendez and Carroll Dashiell, III with creative guidance from NEA Jazz Master, Dianne Reeves.

Billy Childs has emerged as one of the foremost American composers of his era, successfully marrying the musical products of his heritage with the Western neoclassical traditions of the twentieth century in a powerful symbiosis of style, range, and dynamism.

Thus far, in his career, Childs has garnered seventeen GRAMMY nominations and six GRAMMY awards including two for Best Instrumental Jazz Album (Winds of Change in 2024 and Rebirth in 2018), and two for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist (including New York Tendaberry from Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, featuring Renée Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma). In 2006, Childs was awarded a Chamber Music America composer’s grant, and in 2009 was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2013 he was awarded the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. He has also been awarded a composers award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2015). In 2018, Childs was named “Outstanding Alumnus” of the Thornton School of Music (sharing that honor with, among others, Morton Lauridsen, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Marilyn Horne). Childs has also served as president of Chamber Music America (2016-2022).

Before graduating from the Eastman School of Music, Tim Albright began recording and touring with alto saxophonist, Steve Coleman. Shortly after, he moved to New York where he lived for seventeen years. Tim loves just about every genre of music, and in New York, he was lucky to have played, toured and/or recorded with an eclectic mix of artists including the Metropolitan Opera, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, Dafnis Prieto, Steve Lehman, Miguel Zenon, Jay-Z, Barbara Streisand, Sufjan Stevens, and the National. He was also a pit musician for many, many Broadway productions. He was a member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet for fifteen years, and recently toured with the American Brass Quintet performing the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s breathtaking Book of Brass. Learn more about Tim Albright.

Bill Carrothers has been a professional pianist for more than 40 years. He has played many venues throughout the U.S. and Europe including the The Village Vanguard, Village Gate, Knitting Factory, Birdland, Blues Alley, New Morning (Paris), the Monterey Jazz Festival, Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the Audi Jazz Festival, the Nevers Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, AngraJazz, and the Marciac Festival in France. In October of 2000, Mr. Carrothers headlined the prestigious Rising Star Tour throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Learn more about Bill Carrothers.

Patty Darling directs the �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble and also teaches classes in jazz composition, arranging, electronic music and functional jazz piano. Patty completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music in 1985. While pursuing an advanced composition degree at the University of Minnesota, she assisted in the Electronic Music Department. She has over 15 years of experience in the creation, recording and production of original soundtracks for broadcast and corporate multimedia events that have been distributed worldwide. Learn more about Patty Darling.

José L. Encarnación leads the jazz improvisation classes, directs the LU Jazz Band, coaches jazz small groups, teaches applied jazz saxophone, coordinates the jazz performance program and Chairs the Jazz & Improvisational Music Department and The Bachelor of Musical Arts Program at the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music. He studied saxophone, flute and clarinet at the Free School of Music in San Juan, Puerto Rico, completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated magna cum laude, and received his Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music (including the 2002 Schirmer Prize in Jazz Performance). He previously served as Assistant Professor of Jazz Saxophone at the Eastman School of Music, Instructor of Saxophone, Latin Jazz Performance Workshop, and Youth Saxology for the Eastman Community School, and as Jazz Ensemble Conductor at the Rochester (NY) School of the Arts. Learn more about José Encarnación.

Matt Turner is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading improvising cellists. Equally skilled as a pianist, Turner performs in numerous styles and has shared the stage in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia with Cape Breton fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster, avant-garde musicians Marilyn Crispell, Peter Kowald, Guillermo Gregorio, Scott Fields, and John Butcher, as well as country musician Wanda Vick, singer-songwriter LJ Booth, and jazz musician Bobby McFerrin to name a few. He appears on over 100 recordings on Sketch/Harmonia Mundi, Illusions, Music and Arts, Accurate, Polyvinyl, Cadence Jazz and others, recording with jazz violinist Randy Sabien, goth vocalist/pianist Jo Gabriel, singer/songwriters Mark Croft and Tret Fure, punk artist Kyle Fischer, Kitty Brazelton’s chamber rockestra Dadadah, alt-country band Heller Mason, and with the Pointless Orchestra. Learn more about Matt Turner.

Mark Urness is a versatile bassist, composer, and educator. His diverse performance experience encompasses orchestral, chamber, solo, and jazz playing. He is an associate professor of music at �������ý��Ƶ in Appleton, Wisconsin and the principal bassist of the Weidner Center Philharmonic Orchestra. His playing on the unaccompanied jazz album, Foreground, was described by Bass World magazine as “completely in command of the instrument and the tunes, rife with good ideas, melodic instinct, and groove.” Recent performances include chamber music broadcasts on Wisconsin Public Radio, concerto performances as guest soloist with the Fox Valley Youth Orchestra, a solo recital at the 2018 ISB convention, and jazz performances with Bill Carrothers, Danilo Perez, Peter Erskine, and Joe Locke. Learn more about Mark Urness.

Patty Darling directs the �������ý��Ƶ Jazz Ensemble and also teaches classes in jazz composition, arranging, electronic music and functional jazz piano. Patty completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the �������ý��Ƶ Conservatory of Music in 1985. While pursuing an advanced composition degree at the University of Minnesota, she assisted in the Electronic Music Department. She has over 15 years of experience in the creation, recording and production of original soundtracks for broadcast and corporate multimedia events that have been distributed worldwide. Learn more about Patty Darling.