Samara Joy to be Featured in Carnegie Hall's 16th Annual Notable Occasion

On Wednesday, June 15 at 7:00 p.m., Nicola and Beatrice Bulgari and the Carnegie Hall Notables-a membership program for music enthusiasts in their 20s and 30s-will host the 16th Annual Notable Occasion. This private performance in Zankel Hall for Carnegie Hall Notables and special guests will feature acclaimed jazz vocalist Samara Joy. Following the concert, Notables will gather at Redeye Grill for a cocktail reception. The 16th Annual Notable Occasion is generously underwritten by Nicola and Beatrice Bulgari.

The 16th Annual Notable Occasion is one of a series of special events offered each season for Carnegie Hall Notables members. The Carnegie Hall Notables support the education and social impact programs of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) and celebrate music through intimate discussions, concerts, cocktail parties, and more. WMI offers a wide range of visionary music education and social impact programs in the state-of-the-art Resnick Education Wing, classrooms, and in a variety of community settings, and also provides free music education resources to orchestras and schools across the country. The programs are designed to introduce people to the power of music; train and support aspiring young artists, and to explore inventive ways the music can play a meaningful role in people's lives.

About The Artist
Bronx-born Samara Joy burst onto the New York jazz scene in 2019 when she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Following the 2021 release of her self-titled debut album Downbeat called the 22-year-old artist a "deeply emotive vocalist, with power that usually takes a lot of living to master."

Growing up, music was a pervasive presence, due to the inspiration of her paternal grandparents, Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, who led the well-known Philadelphia-based gospel group, The Savettes. Her father toured with the renowned gospel artist Andrae Crouch, and her home was filled with the sounds of not only her father's songs and songwriting process, but the inspiration of many gospel and R&B artists, including Stevie Wonder, Lalah Hathaway, George Duke, Kim Burrell, and many others. She was a participant in the Weill Music Institute Count Me In program, which provides high-quality vocal training and audition preparation for eighth-grade students in New York City auditioning for performing arts high schools.

Joy's first exposure to jazz was while attending Fordham High School for the Arts, where she performed regularly with the jazz band, eventually winning Best Vocalist at the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition. However, jazz wasn't her focus until the time came to select a college. Wanting to attend a state school close to home, she picked the State University of New York at Purchase, gaining acceptance into their acclaimed jazz program with a faculty that includes many jazz masters (including Pasquale Grasso and drummer Kenny Washington, who both appear on her debut recording.) From this point, she began to pursue her jazz studies with an intense passion, eventually being named the Ella Fitzgerald Scholar.

Her self-titled debut recording was released in July of 2021 on Whirlwind Recordings. Within the album liner notes, veteran writer Will Friedwald comments that Samara Joy is "a fantastic collection of highly original new arrangements, beautifully sung by a rising talent, and a very impressive first album. People are forever using the word 'timeless' as if it were the greatest praise ever, but in a way, Samara's voice and her music seem to belong to all time, like she's connected to the entire history of jazz all at once - as if she were existing in every era simultaneously, she sounds both classic and contemporary."

Winning the Vaughan competition was transformational for Joy, and the release of her debut recording has brought her instantly recognizable sound to the jazz world. Moving forward, Joy will continue to dig deep to further find inspiration without losing sight of the innate simplicity that makes her sound shine.

Program Information

Wednesday, June 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Zankel Hall
16TH ANNUAL NOTABLE OCCASION
Samara Joy, Vocals
Pasquale Grasso, Guitar
Ben Patterson, Piano
David Wong, Bass
Kenny Washington, Drums

Made up of young music lovers, the Notables celebrate music through intimate discussions, concerts, cocktail parties, and more. Contributions from the Notables directly support the music education and community programs of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute.

7:00 p.m. - Private Performance
Immediately Following the Performance - Cocktail Reception at Redeye Grill

The 16th Annual Notable Occasion is generously underwritten by Nicola and Beatrice Bulgari.