Enjoy an outdoor concert with the Amy K. Bormet Quintet for a concert inspired the current exhibition Setting Sail: The Story of Sea Cloud.

Join the Amy K. Bormet Quintet for an evening outdoor concert inspired by the special exhibition Setting Sail: The Story of Sea Cloud! The concert will feature music inspired by the story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm—the first all-female racially integrated jazz bands to tour internationally, who happened to live in Arlington, VA. The ensemble will feature the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lil Harden Armstrong, and more! The group is led by celebrated bandleader, pianist, composer, and singer Amy K. Bormet and will feature fabulous jazz musicians from throughout the D.C. area. 

PROGRAM TIMELINE 

5:30-6:30 p.m. | Explore Hillwood

• Enjoy Hillwood’s mansion, gardens, and greenhouse, and exhibition, Setting Sail: The Story of Sea Cloud
• Visit the museum shop and Merriweather To Go

6:30-7:30 p.m. | Concert on the Lunar Lawn

• Please bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets.

8 p.m. | Hillwood closes

PROGRAM GUIDELINES 

• This program takes place outdoors on the Lunar Lawn. (Please see the inclement weather plan below.)
• Please bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets. Picnicking is welcome.
• Merriweather To Go has sandwiches, light snacks, and beverages, including beer, wine, and champagne available by the glass or bottle.
• Hillwood’s liquor license does not allow patrons to bring in outside alcohol.

INCLEMENT WEATHER PLAN  

If inclement weather occurs, the program will be postponed to Thursday, April 24 with ticket purchasers notified of the change by 3 p.m. If inclement weathers persists, the concert will be livestreamed on Thursday, and all ticket purchasers will be notified and sent a link to the performance by 3 p.m.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Amy K Bormet is a pianist, vocalist, and composer, known for her fearless free-wheeling style and dedication to creating new music. To collaborate with and celebrate women musicians, she started the annual Washington Women in Jazz Festival in 2011, directing, financing, and performing in an annual festival and women-focused events throughout the year in the DC area.

She has formed several ensembles to perform and record her compositions.  Los Angeles-based quintet, AmyAna, co-led with Brazilian drummer Ana Barreiro, released their debut album in 2019, and performed an east coast tour in October 2021. The Harold Trio, an instant composition ensemble with Tina Raymond, drums and Biggi Vinkeloe, saxophone/flute, released their second album, Open Secrets, in 2019. Her quintet, Ephemera, a project of women’s poetry and improvisation, performed a two-week tour of Sweden. Currently she tours and performs her songs with the Amy K Bormet Trio, and No Trick Pony.

Amy’s recordings are available through Strange Woman Records, which she co-owns with guitarist/producer and husband Dr. Matt Dievendorf.

As an educator and a mentor, Amy K Bormet amplifies her performance tours with outreach masterclasses and residencies, recently at the Thailand International Jazz Conference (Mahidol University, January 2020), Los Angeles City College (February 2020), the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts (May 2022), and Shepherd University (Jan 2023). She is a teaching artist, collaborating with the Kennedy Center’s newest programming at the REACH to present and perform with her all-women trio “the future of jazz is female” for middle school students.

She continues to serve as a mentor for Grammy U, 202creates, and the summer program for the Washington Jazz Arts Institute, where she has participated since she was a high school student at Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She received her Jazz Studies Piano Performance BFA from the University of Michigan, where she chairs the alumni board of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Inspired by her University of Michigan professor Geri Allen, Amy went to Howard University, and graduated with a MFA in Jazz Studies.

As her performance career develops, Amy focuses more on presenting her compositions. She began to write orchestral music in 2013 as a part of the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra Institute (American Composer’s Orchestra) and premiered several new pieces with her quartet and the Capital City Symphony in February 2017. Her trio and string quartet debuted two sets of new music at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in March 2016. She wrote and performed music for two residencies at the Kennedy Center; Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead for composer/performers and the Mary Lou Williams Emerging Artist Showcase.