Jazz à la Cité 2024

Jazz Musicians of the FEU

Stanley E. Coleman, a proud St. Louis native, has made a remarkable impact on the world of jazz and blues through his extensive performance and teaching career. He has shared the stage with legendary artists such as Gladys Knight & the Pips, Lou Rawls, Kool & the Gang, The O’Jays, Fifth Dimension, B.B. King, The Manhattans, and Della Reese have earned him a revered place in the music community. In 2019, Coleman was part of the St. Louis-based band HyC and the Fresh Start Band, which won first place at the International Blues Challenge, marking the first time a St. Louis group achieved this prestigious honor. Now, Coleman is excited to bring his deep passion for jazz and blues to the FEU!

American pianist and collaborator Khalid McGhee received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Northern Arizona University and continued his studies at the Institut für Musik der Hochschule Osnabrück. He then earned a Higher Diploma in Collaborative Piano/Vocal Coaching from the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot and is currently pursuing the Perfectionnement post-graduate program. A versatile musician, Khalid’s expertise spans solo piano, chamber music, song accompaniment, vocal coaching, language coaching, and musical direction. He recently returned to St. Louis to direct productions at COCA Center of Creative Arts and The Black Repertory Theater of St. Louis. Through his residency at the Fondation des États-Unis, Khalid aims to inspire and connect audiences by fusing genres to create a more diverse concert experience.

A native of Washington Island, WI, USA, Jonathan Bass continues his studies in piano performance in 2024-2025 under Professor David Lively at the École normale de musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot. Jonathan graduated summa cum laude from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where he was named a winner of the concerto competition, the Marjory Irvin Prize, and the Margaret Gary Daniels Keyboard Performance Award. Jonathan held a Lawrence University Accompanying Fellowship and is active as both a soloist and collaborative pianist. Jonathan studied with Dr. Michael Mizrahi at Lawrence and with Dr. Michael Coonrod at Interlochen Arts Academy. A winner of the Wisconsin MTNA competition, Jonathan is also an alumnus of numerous summer music festivals, including Rocky Ridge, Brevard, and the Decoda Chamber Music Festival, for which he was awarded a full-tuition fellowship.

Ariela Bohrod began piano lessons at the age of four in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, continued her high school studies at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and moved to New York City in 2013 to study with Pavlina Dokovska at Mannes College the New School for Music, where both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Piano Performance were completed with full-tuition merit scholarships. Her training, coupled with the benevolence of others and a lot of good luck, have granted her concerts in Europe, Asia, and throughout the United States. While her musical diet is filled with a wide range of repertoire, her true love is repertoire composed between the early twentieth century and the present day — a musical landscape that, for her, transcends the mundane and rises to the ethereal. After a nearly two-year hiatus from land while performing aboard cruise ships with Lincoln Center Stage, she is thrilled and honored to be studying under Suzana Bartal at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot”, and to be a Harriet Hale Woolley scholar alongside such brilliant young artists. Aside from music, she enjoys writing, making clothes, and going on grand hiking adventures.

Sarah Kathryn Curtis is a captivating mezzo-soprano holding Doctoral and Master degrees from the University of Kansas, where she studied with renowned mezzo-soprano, Joyce Castle. Her emerging career has taken her across the United States, with engagements from prestigious companies including Portland Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Central City Opera. Sarah’s diverse repertoire spans iconic operatic roles and a variety of other vocal literature. Favorite past roles of hers include Carmen, Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Giulio Cesare, and Jo March (Little Women). For her doctoral research, Sarah presented a lecture recital on the vocal music of German-American composer, Kurt Weill. A passion for contemporary music led her to sing in the premiere of Bonnie McLarty’s Snow Angel with the KU Orchestra as well as premieres on several other student-led programs. During her time in Paris, Sarah will study at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and focus her research on the art songs of French female composers.

Natalie Darst Xia is a recipient of a 2024-25 Fulbright-Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, and is pursuing her violin studies at École Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot. As a four-time recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation grant, she has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and an orchestral player in France, Switzerland, and the United States. A dedicated orchestral musician, she was Concertmaster of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra USA, Mannes Orchestra, and Boston University Symphony Orchestra. Natalie serves on the Board of Trustees for the Fontainebleau Associations (USA) and is the Assistant Program Director of the Fontainebleau Schools’ American Conservatory in the Château de Fontainebleau. She received a Bachelor of Music with Honors and a Master of Music from Mannes School of Music where she held the President’s Scholarship. Natalie holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Boston University where she worked with Lucia Lin (Boston Symphony Orchestra).

As an pianist and organist, Samuel Gaskin is interested in music of all kinds. As an improviser, he shared 1st prize in the 2023 St. Albans International Organ Competition and received 2nd prize in the 2021 American Guild of Organists’ (AGO) National Competition of Organ Improvisation. As a collaborative pianist, he has performed across the United States and Europe with mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava. As a composer, recent premieres include Chase, for the ~Nois Saxophone Quartet, In memoriam, premiered by the Unheard-of Ensemble, and Psalm 118, for choir and organ. Samuel was assistant organist at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas before receiving a Fulbright grant to France, where he is currently pursuing studies in organ performance and in jazz piano at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Versailles.

Gabriel Newsham began piano lessons at age twelve. After six years of study with Karl Koesterer, he entered Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in 2018 after studying with Amy Dorfman. In 2019, he moved to France in order to pursue the Diplôme d’Études Musicales in piano (Chantal Lamarre) and accompaniment (Brigitte Gonin-Chanut.) In 2024 he obtained his Master’s degree from the Conservatorio Superior de Castilla y León, where he studied with Dr. Brenno Ambrosini. For three summers (2017-2019) he attended the EAMA Nadia Boulanger Institute, studying harmony, counterpoint and chamber music. Masterclasses and festival experiences include work with Donna Lee, Sandra Shen, John Kimura Parker, Andrea Lam, Émile Naoumoff and Claire Désert. He has collaborated with artists including Reginald Smith Jr., Laurent Pillot, Abenauara Graffigna and María Espada. His performances have been broadcast on Spain’s Radio Clásica as part of the program “Andante con moto.” During the 2024-25 school year he is a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar and artist-in-residence at the Fondation des États-Unis in Paris.