FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Great Barrington, Mass.—Three-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Samara Joy will headline the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s 2024 Gala on Thursday, August 1.
The 24-year-old vocalist makes her case to join the likes of Sarah, Ella, and Billie as the next mononymous jazz-singing sensation recorded by the venerable Verve Records. Her voice, rich and velvety yet precociously refined, has already earned her fans like Anita Baker and Regina King and appearances on the TODAY Show, The Tonight Show w/Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS Mornings, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and more, in addition to millions of likes on TikTok — cementing her status as perhaps the first Gen Z jazz-singing star. The New York Times praised the “silky-voiced rising star” for “helping jazz take a youthful turn” while NPR All Things Considered named her a “classic jazz singer from a new generation.” In February 2023, Samara Joy took home her first two Grammys — Best Jazz Vocal Album (Linger Awhile, 2022) and the auspicious Best New Artist award — followed by one more in February 2024 for Best Jazz Performance (“Tight”).
Samara is still relatively new to jazz. Growing up in the Bronx, it was music of the past — the music of her parents’ childhoods, as she put it — that she listened to most. She treasures her musical lineage, which stretches back to her grandparents Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, both of whom performed with Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes, and runs through her father, who is a singer, songwriter and producer who toured with gospel artist Andraé Crouch. “Sometimes I catch myself when I’m singing — I’m like, ‘Whoa, that was a dad moment’,” Samara quips. Eventually, she did follow in the family tradition, singing in church and then with the jazz band at Fordham High School for the Arts, with whom she won Best Vocalist at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition. That led to her enrolling in SUNY Purchase’s jazz studies program, where she fell deeply in love with the music.
Though she’s young, she relishes the process of digging through the music’s history. “I think maybe people connect with the fact that I’m not faking it, that I already feel embedded in it,” Samara says. “Maybe I’m able to reach people in person and on social media because it’s real.” The gatekeepers of the jazz world tend to agree; in 2019, she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, and she’s since performed with legends like Christian McBride and Bill Charlap. Legendary late pianist Barry Harris was a particularly important influence and mentor. “You inspired me as well as many others with this fire for teaching and playing that couldn’t be dimmed by anything or anyone,” Samara writes in Linger Awhile’s liner notes, dedicating the project in part to Harris’ memory.
Samara has spent the past few years touring all over the world on increasingly larger stages — still shocked to be performing in front of thousands who hang on every word. “I’m still very much a student, even though I’ve graduated,” Samara says. “So, this is only the beginning… there is much, much more to come.”
Tickets
To purchase Gala Packages (including reception, dinner, and 8 p.m. show), visit mahaiwe.org/gala. Show-only tickets will go on sale to Mahaiwe Members on Wednesday, May 1 at noon. Show-only tickets will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, May 8 at noon.
For more information about Gala Packages contact Diane Wortis at diane@mahaiwe.org.
To learn more about Mahaiwe Membership, contact Brenna Hull at 413-644-9040 x107 or brenna@mahaiwe.org, or visit mahaiwe.org/membership.
About the Mahaiwe
Located in downtown Great Barrington, Mass., the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is the year-round presenter of world-class music, dance, theater, classic films, Live in HD broadcasts, and arts education programs for the southern Berkshires and neighboring regions. The intimate jewel box of a theater opened in 1905. Since 2005, the performing arts center has hosted over 1,500 events and welcomed over half a million people through its doors. More than 26,000 students from 75 different schools have benefited from the Mahaiwe’s school-time performances and residencies. For more information, see mahaiwe.org.
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