Dickinson College’s Artists-in-Residence program presented the all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra as they celebrated their 25th anniversary during their four-day residency on campus.

According to Music Professor and Residency Coordinator Jennifer Blyth, the music department’s residency program regularly brings three to four groups to campus “who interact through music in multiple interdisciplinary avenues.” The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, according to their website, is an all-female group that consists of 15 musicians who were found after nationwide auditions. The group is based in New York and “performs all over the world playing contemporary, [and]mainstream big band jazz….” The residency program had two key events, a performance on Sunday, Feb. 25 and a film showing of the movie The Girls in the Band on Monday, Feb. 26

On Sunday, DIVA Jazz Orchestra performed two sets in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS) that had audience members nodding their heads and tapping their feet throughout the entire concert.

When asked why they attended the concert, many people commented on the lack of women in traditional jazz groups. Leigh Parrott ’18 said that “an all-female jazz ensemble group is something rare, something you don’t see very often. Also, they’re fantastic musicians, so I try to go to as many concerts here as I can because we always get really great outside artists to come and perform for us.”

According to Blyth, the lack of players in the jazz field was part of the reason the music department decided to bring the orchestra to campus, explaining that “the famed jazz critic George Simon once stated in the New York Times that ‘Only God can make a tree and only Men can play jazz.’ My hope is that by bringing DIVA here, we can all recognize immediately the great error in that statement.”

She also explained that female jazz players, such as the performers of DIVA, have long-fought the claim that only males could play jazz.

“DIVA is here within the context of voices from as far back as the 1930’s – voices of some of the greatest female iconic jazz artists who screamed ME TOO long before it was a hashtag that went viral in 2017,” she explained. “Their stories are some of the most engaging stories of resilience and survival through music. My hope is that these largely ignored voices and their stories will resonate with students across campus.”

Caroline Snyder ’19 appreciated the opportunity to have the Artists-in-Residence program with an all-female group. She described her experience as a female trumpeter, starting in fifth grade as the only female out of 15 trumpeters and overcoming the stereotype that only boys could play the trumpet. Snyder said, “To me, seeing a whole band of females has been awesome and they’re really defying gender norms in music. It’s fabulous.”

Trumpet performance major Morgan Bates ’18 came to the concert “with a profound interest in women’s representation in music, so to see this premier group in action is basically a dream come true.”

Bates also explained that, although the fact that the musicians are all women should be emphasized in order to recognize their voices, “they’re swinging like no other group I’ve heard before… in terms of musicality, they are just good musicians. Period.”

Similarly, Nhat Anh Ngo Dan ’21 remarked that the group played “with this reckless abandon that’s really, really nice… they have these moments where they shine with their solos, but when it all comes together, they still got it.”

Drummer Carl Hamilton ’21 concluded, “Whether it’s men, women, or cyborgs playing, when you close your eyes, it’s just good music.”