Midsummer Nights Music Series – Free Community Concerts

July 20th ~ Courtney Wright is a promising young composer and baritone saxophonist based in Brooklyn, NY. She leads her own quintet and Jazz Orchestra that performs her original compositions and arrangements. Courtney’s music has been performed and recorded by the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, the One and Two O’Clock Lab Bands at the University of North Texas, and the WDR Big Band. Courtney studied jazz composition at the University of North Texas under the mentorship of Richard DeRosa. She is a native of Woodbridge, VA, and grew up outside the vibrant jazz scene of Washington, D.C.

July 27th ~ Cellist-Composer-Conductor-Educator Akua Dixon has been at the forefront of improvising string players since 1973. She is the first cellist to win the Downbeat Critics Poll. A multi laureate of the National Endowment for the Arts in composition and performance, Akua is considered “amongst the treasures of contemporary jazz” (New Jersey Star Ledger).

She has toured the world performing with her Grammy Award-winning string quartet, Quartette Indigo, ”jazz’s leading string quartet” (Boston Globe). Akua’s string arrangements can be heard on the five-time Grammy Award-winning album, THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL and Aretha Franklin’s Grammy nominated, A ROSE IS STILL A ROSE. She has performed with Duke Ellington, Max Roach, Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, etc. Akua has performed at concert halls and Festivals in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.

A native New Yorker, Akua attended its infamous High School of Performing Arts and studied cello with Benar Heifetz. Akua conducted Riverside by Judith Jamison, music by Kimati Dinizulu for the 1995 season premiere at City Center. She is the 1998 recipient of the African American Classical Music Award. In 2005 she developed her Hip Hop Blues Project for NYC school children while working with Carnegie Hall Education.

August 3 ~ Milena Casado is a composer, flugelhorn & trumpet player from Spain, whose personal sound and creativity have led her to perform and record with acclaimed artists such Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Aaron Parks, Jazzmeia Horn, Jorge Rossy, Francisco Mela and Kenny Werner, among others. She has performed throughout the world at noted venues and festivals including The Village Vanguard, The Kennedy Center, Monterey Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Marciac Jazz Festival and Monheim Triennale Festival. A graduate from Berklee College of Music, Milena has also focused on composing her own music and performing it in different settings, which include the Milena Casado trio and quintet.

August 10 ~ Charisa the ViolinDiva, souljazz violinist/ vocalist has devoted her career to challenging every preconception of what a violinist can accomplish in contemporary music. Classically trained, her diversity and versatility has allowed her to travel the world, recording and performing alongside such artists as Lauryn Hill,  Paul McCartney, Vivian Green, Kim Burrell, Cyndi Lauper, and Quincy Jones, to name a few. In Dec 2022, her song “Bethlehem” was featured in BETs movie “A Miracle before Christmas”. In June 2023, she began a progressive hip hop/jazz fusion orchestra that seeks to showcase orchestral diversity and black excellence across the genres, and throughout history. Beyond performing, Charisa is an in demand teaching artist in public schools. She has developed “the StringTastic Curriculum” targeted at reaching young minority string players;  which she uses regularly to reach 200 black and latino students annually. Charisa has proudly called Newark NJ her home for the last ten years with her producer & drummer husband James Rouse.  On the national stage, she has won the Apollo Amateur Night Competition, performed for senators and dignitaries, rocked next to Patti Labelle and Misty Copeland on BET Black Girl’s Rock, won the McDonald’s Gospelfest Competition with her unique fusion of soul, jazz, hot pink violin, and voice.  Stay tuned for her next chapter at www.theviolindiva.com , or see her after the show for more info.