Angelica Sanchez, Anna Webber, Adam Shead

BlueStem Jazz Pianist/Composer/Educator Angelica Sanchez moved to New York from Arizona in 1994. Since moving to the East Coast Sanchez has collaborated with such notable artists as Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Motian, Richard Davis, Jamaladeen Tacuma, Nicole Mitchell, Rob Mazurek, Tim Berne, Mario Pavone, Ben Monder amongst others. Sanchez leads numerous groups, the most recent being her Trio which features Michael Formanek and Billy Hart. Her music has been recognized in national and international publications including Jazz Times, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune amongst others. She was also the 2008 recipient of a French/American Chamber Music America grant, the 2011, 2024 Rockefeller Brothers Pocantico artist residency, and the 2022 Civitella Fellowship, Italy. Sanchez’s debut solo CD “A Little House” was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and her recording “Wires & Moss” featuring her Quintet was chosen as one of the best Releases of 2012 in “The New York City Jazz Record (formerly AllAboutJazz-New York).” Her recording “Twine Forest” a duo with Wadada Leo Smith received Honorable Mention as one of the best releases of 2013 in "The New York City Jazz Record." Her latest trio project “Float The Edge” features Michael Formanek and Tyshawn Sorey and has garnered wide critical acclaim. Her new piano duo"How to Turn the Moon," with Marilyn Crispell was voted as one of the top 50 best recordings in 2020, NPR critics poll. Her recording "Sparkle Beings," was chosen by The New York Times as one of the top ten Jazz recordings of 2022. Her Nonet record, "Nighttime Creatures," was chosen as one of the "Best recordings in 2023," Downbeat Magazine. Angelica Sanchez has a Masters Degree in Arranging from William Paterson University. She is currently on faculty at Bard College. https://music.bard.edu/faculty/angelica-sanchez/ Anna Webber s a flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live in the aesthetic overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. Her music has been called "visionary and captivating," (Wall Street Journal), and “heady music [that] appeals to the rest of the body” (NPR). In 2024 alone, she received the Herb Albert Award in the Arts, a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commission, and was voted top of both the tenor saxophone and flute “Rising Star” categories in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll. She was additionally voted top of the Downbeat “Rising Star” arranger category in 2025. Adam Shead Chicago-based percussionist, composer, and improviser working across free jazz, experimental composition, and interdisciplinary performance. Known for his leadership of microplastique, the Adiaphora Orchestra, and the Stein/Smith/Shead trio, as well as collaborations with Marilyn Crispell, Shead is an active figure in Chicago’s contemporary creative music community as both performer and curator.