World Jazz Octet at DC Jazz Festival, June 1 & 2

Berklee College of Music's World Jazz Octet is headed to the DC Jazz Festival to perform two concerts on June 1 and 2. With students hailing from from Lithuania, Israel, Spain, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S., the octet's rich, improvised music reflects the multicultural diversity of its members. The ensemble, which is also an intensive course at Berklee taught by pianist Alain Mallet (Paul Simon, Paquito D'Rivera, Madeleine Peyroux, Phil Woods), performs compositions by Mallet, current octet members, and Berklee alumni.

The group's first performance, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will be webcast live and archived at kennedy-center.org.

Berklee World Jazz Octet Concerts at the DC Jazz Festival: 

Wednesday, June 1
6:00 p.m.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
2700 F Street NW
Admission: free 

Thursday, June 2
8:00 and 10:00 p.m.
Bohemian Caverns
2001 Eleventh Street N.W. 
Tickets: $15 advance, $20 door

The Berklee World Jazz Octet is Yuriana Sobrino Garcia, percussion, Veracruz, Mexico; Zach Brown, bass, Columbia, Maryland; Simona Jakubenaite, voice, Lithuania; Eitan Kenner, piano, Tel Aviv, Israel; Alex Baboian, guitar, Belmont, Massachusetts; Mario Castro, saxophones, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Duncan Wickel, violin, Asheville, North Carolina; and Adam Arruda, drums, Toronto, Canada. 

With more than 100 performances in dozens of venues across the city, the DC Jazz Festival is the largest music festival in Washington, D.C. and has become one of the most highly anticipated cultural events in the nation's capital. The festival presents year-round music programs and performances by local, national, and international artists; promotes music integration in school curricula; and actively supports community outreach to expand and diversify the audience of jazz enthusiasts. For more information about the DC Jazz Festival and its upcoming programs, visit dcjazzfest.org.