Women in Jazz & World Music Concert

Women in Jazz and World Music (WJWM) is a free concert / recital led by Dee Spencer on keyboards with Jewell McMillon on bass, Jay Hernandez on drums and Michelle Jacques as Mistress of Choirs!

The occasion is the graduating event for Dee's students from the inaugural Women in Jazz & World Music vocal training course. The evening will feature eight young ladies from high school and college who have spent a month-long intensive with Dee and six celebrity guest lecturers. In addition to learning professional singing techniques, they have also studied the lives of some of the legendary women in the history of jazz and world music. Tonight they will give their renditions of classic songs originally covered by the likes of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone.

Dee Spencer Biography
Dee Spencer is a Professor of Jazz and Musical Theatre in the School of Theatre & Dance at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Dee received her B.S. from Florida A&M; M.M. at Washington University in St. Louis; and EdD, University of San Francisco.  Dee founded the Jazz Studies degree program in the School of Music at SFSU and served as director for five years. Dee founded the San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ) education program. Her former students include recording artists/producers, Braxton Brothers, Beyonce’s music director, saxophonist Tia Fuller, and Lauren Hill’s music director, saxophonist Howard Wiley.

Michelle Jacques (Choir Master)
For over 20 years Michelle has taught educational programs for the San Francisco Symphony's Adventures in Music, Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp, education programs/workshops at Stern Grove, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, CMEA Bay Section Conference Clinician, conductor for the Oakland Youth Chorus, lecturer at University of San Francisco on music standards in education K through 8 and choral director at the Oakland School for the Arts 6th through 12th grades.