Amongst the many things UNCO is known for, its one of a kind jazz program offers a unique education with countless opportunities. One of those is JazzFest, a 3-day music festival that gives students the opportunity to work with their heroes and learn from the best of the best.
Women in jazz have long fought for the right to be acknowledged in a space dominated by men. Of course, you could take my word for it, but I’m stubborn and like to prove points. I sat down with two women who’ve helped me in my collegiate jazz journey to learn why supporting women in jazz is so important.
Supporting Women in Jazz Matters
The first of my interviewees was Natalie Gallatin, a doctoral student here at UNCO. She’s an amazing saxophone player who plays tenor in the Green Mill combo, as well as the Compass Jazz Orchestra. I asked her a question that I feel highlights the experience of women in jazz: Was there ever a moment she noticed she was different because of her gender?
Gallatin never really knew there was a difference because she’d been surrounded by men and small acts of misogyny for so long. It wasn’t until she attended a masterclass that pointed out common micro and macroaggressions against female jazz musicians that she realized she had experienced the gap. As the only woman in UNCO’s doctoral program, Gallatin makes a conscious effort to learn all the women’s names and make it known that she’s a supportive presence if they ever need it. Having been on the receiving end of it myself, she has absolutely kept that promise.
The second woman I sat down with was Marion Powers, the director of jazz voice at UNCO. Powers highlighted how important it is to show up for women in jazz because it’s a historically male-dominated field. Women don’t want to be treated differently; they want to be treated equal to the men in the room.
The system, as Powers called it, isn’t built for women. It can feel incredibly isolating to be the only woman in the room or on the bandstand. Showing up for each other utilizes the power of relating: if a younger woman sees a woman on the bandstand playing with world class groups, she’ll know that one day, she can do it, too.
PERFORMERS TO SPOT AT JAZZ FEST 2026
Of the many incredible artists taking the mainstage, the ones you can’t miss are Alicia Olatuja and Skylar Tang, two incredible women headlining this year’s festival. Olatuja will be playing at 4:30 p.m and 7:30 p.m. in the Campus Commons Performance Hall with David Rosenthal on Thursday, April 23rd. She’s a phenomenal jazz vocalist who can sing a variety of styles — including jazz, blues, gospel, classical, pop, and afropop — and she’s worked with many phenomenal jazz musicians including Christian McBride and Chris Botti. Definitely an artist I won’t be missing out on seeing, and neither should you.
The other amazing female musician we’re lucky to have is Skylar Tang, who will play alongside Olatuja. (Talk about a day for female powerhouses.) Tang is only 19 years old and performing with artists like Rufus Reid and Joshua Redman. She’s incredibly talented and absolutely someone you should check out if you’re dropping by.
In addition to the phenomenal women we’ve got headlining our festival, every student group from UNCO will be performing, and you should absolutely check them out — not just to see phenomenal musicians, but also to see some incredible women in action.
Don’t know where to look? That’s OK, I’ll tell you.
All three lab bands at UNCO have female musician members. This includes the Compass, Continuum and Catalyst Jazz Orchestras. You can find Compass performing on the main stage in the Campus Commons Performance Hall, and Continuum and Catalyst performing in the ballrooms in the UC.
Several of the small ensembles including (but not limited to!) Green Mill, Catalina’s, Yoshi’s, and many more have some phenomenal women and non-binary members, too. These groups will be performing on the social stairs in the Campus Commons lobby, so there’s really no excuse to not drop by and see which musicians you’ll catch performing. You can find the full schedule of clinics and performances here.
Personally, I would make sure to catch Catalyst and Catalina’s for… no particular reason. Maybe yours truly is playing in those groups, maybe not. Guess you’ll have to stop by to find out.
The only way we can grow the population of women in jazz is to show up for each other. Even if it’s just for one song or a set on the social stairs, every person counts. So show up and cheer these women on at UNCO’s Jazz Festival this weekend!