Baritone saxophonist Noa Zebley leads the Berklee Jazz and Gender Justice Quartet featuring Jillian Upshaw on drums, Christopher Lee on bass, and Alon Schwartz on piano. Before coming to Berklee, Zebley was part of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars, and Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra and Women in Jazz Combo. In 2022, Zebley was accepted to Berklee College of Music on the prestigious James L. Lyons Scholarship named in honor of the Monterey Jazz Festival's late founder, James L. (Jimmy) Lyons. Jillian Upshaw was also a member of MJF’s 2022 Women in Jazz Combo.
At Berklee, the band members are part of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. The mission of the institute is to recruit, teach, mentor, and advocate for musicians seeking to study jazz with gender justice and racial justice as guiding principles. Founded by Terri Lyne Carrington, who also serves as the artistic director, the institute seeks to engage itself and others in making an important and long-lasting cultural shift in jazz and other music communities. Leading up to the festival, the band will be mentored by pianist Kris Davis, who is Associate Program Director of Creative Development for the institute.
Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice Mission
The mission of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice is to support and sustain a cultural transformation in jazz, with the commitment to recruit, teach, mentor, and advocate for musicians seeking to study or perform jazz, with gender justice and racial justice as guiding principles.
Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice Values
Imagination
Equity
Freedom
Identity
Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice Vision
We cultivate creative practice and scholarship within an integrated and egalitarian setting. We seek to engage ourselves and others in the pursuit of jazz without patriarchy, and in making a long-lasting cultural shift in the overall music community, recognizing the role that jazz can play in the larger struggle for social justice.
What would jazz sound like in a culture without patriarchy?
The jazz industry remains predominantly male due to a biased system, imposing a significant toll on those who aspire to work in it. In understanding the importance of balance and equity, the goal of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice is to do corrective work and modify the way jazz is perceived and presented, so the future of jazz looks different than its past without rendering invisible many of the art form's creative contributors.
The Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice will focus on equity in the jazz field and the role that jazz plays in the larger struggle for gender justice. The institute will celebrate the contributions women have made in the development of the art form as well as frame more equitable conditions for all pursuing careers in jazz in an effort to work toward a necessary and lasting cultural shift in the field.
We welcome students of all gender and sexual identities to achieve the goal of true gender diversity in the field. The institute will work to address gender inequities at the college through curriculum, recruitment, residencies, performances, research, and community engagement.
