Hi, friends and family!

I hope all of you are doing well during this challenging time. 

In this uncertain time, I have been relaxing and healing, but also questioning many things in my life. What does it mean to play music, especially ‘jazz,' and to live in New York City as a foreigner? I have been reflecting on my own identity in the context of an America that is in the midst of what I believe to be an extremely important reflection on its history and identity. 

Just like the country I chose to live in, I am still very much in my thoughts, and no one has found all the right answers yet; but this is me now, in June 2020 and I can unequivocally say that black lives matter.

As a jazz musician, I came to this country because of my love for an art form that is deeply rooted in African American culture. The respect I have for this music and the people that created, is often at odds with the reality we live in. African Americans continue to endure blatant disrespect, systemic racial discrimination and the underlying dehumanization that accompanies it. As I continue to be shocked by new manifestations of this racial injustice, I will continue to speak out against it. 

While art must be universal in principle, and my music certainly has no political intention, I do not live in a vacuum. We are all placed in a context and our current context is one of a global self-reflection that has the potential to bring fundamental, positive change. As I am preparing for my solo piano performance this coming Thursday, I realize how impossible it is to be in the moment musically and artistically without acknowledging the social and political moment we all live in.

Please join me for a celebration this music that we all love as we both pay tribute to its origins in black culture and at the same time strive to be free and in the moment musically and otherwise.

The Whole Program : https://www.gmfjazzsummit.com/concerts-online