'Women in Jazz' Concert Showcases Annandale Musicians

The three soloists who performed at the "Women in Jazz" concert on Northern Virginia Community College's Annandale campus on Sunday, Sept. 12 at the Richard J. Ernst Community Cultural Center set out to demonstrate the kind of emotional impact jazz music can have on the soul. With the help of a number of community musicians supporting them, the women featured in the program delivered an afternoon of delightful music to an appreciative crowd.

The performance featured two vocalists and a flutist—all of whom were former or are current students of the jazz program at NOVA-Annandale—performing jazz and classical pieces. Other student-musicians and a few longtime professional musicians backed each of the women during their performances.

Each of the musicians selected for this year's program have ties to the Annandale community or Fairfax County. Mitra Gholam, a vocalist who grew up in Annandale, now studies voice in the jazz program at NOVA-Annandale.

Laila Sanie is also a vocalist and alumna of the program. Sanie now attends George Mason University. Gina Sobel, also a NOVA jazz program alumna, plays the flute, saxophone and guitar. Mistress of Ceremonies Karen Lovejoy, a vocalist who has opened for such jazz greats as Bobby Hutcherson, Ahmad Jamal and Joe Williams, also performed.

Gholam, 29, who attended Annandale High School before transferring to finish at Falls Church High School, said she hoped the performance brought some peace and comfort to audience members who may be suffering through the recession.

"It's an opportunity to get into the community, to enrich people's lives, to bless them," said Gholam. "It's ministry and also taking the music to the people."

Her comments reflect the heart of the music society's mission: community service through music.

The "Women in Jazz" program is one of many collaborations between the music society and NOVA since the two institutions entered into an agreement to produce the NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra as a college community ensemble. NOVA has sponsored the "Women in Jazz" program for the last 10 years, but last night's show was the third time the music society and the college co-sponsored the annual concert.

Based in Northern Virginia, the Reunion Music Society is an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting music performance.

"It has a special emphasis on performing seldom heard musical composition and seldom heard musical styles," said Herbert Smith, who has taught jazz studies at NOVA since 1976 and has served as music director of RMS since 2007. "[Reunion Music Society] is committed to doing music from around the world, from different ethnic groups and sources.

A non-profit supported in part by the Arts Council of Fairfax County, RSM brings together musicians and community members from all over the region—many of them NOVA alumni— to perform at more than 100 various community venues such as schools, parks and churches throughout the year. In addition to working with the NOVA-Annandale Symphony, RSM sponsors Brass and Jazz Ensembles. 

"We started with a lot of musicians from Annandale…it started in this community," said Dr. Claiborne Richardson, the founder of RMS.

Smith said he started "Women in Jazz" to showcase the exceptional female jazz vocalists at NOVA. "Once they train and practice, they need the encouragement to perform and we provide the venue for that," said Smith.

On joint RMS-NOVA events, students perform amid professional musicians who've had a "lifelong involvement in music," Smith said. "The college could attempt these things, but it's so much better to do this with the Reunion Society. Just as a college, we wouldn't be able to sustain that quality."

The program has received positive response from members of the community. "It's really good to have a venue for students to get out and perform," said Bill Brown, an architect from Fairfax City who has taken jazz classes at NOVA for 10 years and came out to see Sunday's event. "I was not familiar with Reunion Music (before Sunday's event), but if they're supporting this kind of stuff, it's a good thing."

Reunion Music Society's next event is the "Jazz with Strings" concert on Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. on the NOVA-Annandale campus. For more information, visit their website.