Dr. Natalie Boeyink is Associate Professor of Music in Jazz Studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. As a bassist, her interest in the educational experiences and careers of jazzwomen has launched a series of research projects, conference presentations and publications, including her dissertation, "An Analysis and Description of Female Jazz Instrumentalists." Boeyink served as Chair of JEN’s Women in Jazz Committee and helped to reestablish the Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo Competition. Batuquê Trio is Boeyink’s seasoned collaboration with drummer Andy Smith and pianist Jamaal Baptiste. Fusing Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and Caribbean jazz, the trio frequently appears at jazz festivals. Their first CD, Transparency, was released in 2015, and a second album is forthcoming in 2025. Some of Boeyink’s notable performances include appearances with Tammy McCann, Ingrid Jensen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Christine Jensen, Jovino Santos Neto, Joe Piscopo, David ‘Fathead’ Newman, Jon Hendricks, Jeff Coffin and David Liebman.

Jamie Baum, NYC jazz flutist/composer, Sunnyside Records artist, Guggenheim Fellow, has toured 35 countries and worked with a wide range of artists from Paul Motion, Tom Harrell, Kenny Barron, Richie Beirach and Randy Brecker to Dave Douglas, Dave Binney, Louis Cole, Roy Hargrove, Anthony Braxton, and Wadada Leo Smith. Her seventh CD, What times Are These, featuring her compositions performed by her Septet+, came out in April 2024 and received a five-star review in DownBeat Magazine. Baum appears on over 50 recordings as side-woman, has been nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association “Flutist of Year“ 13 times, places in DownBeat polls annually since ’98. She was featured in Huffington Post’s “Twenty-five Great Jazz Flute Performances,” JazzTimes’ 10: Essential Jazz Flute Albums and was the flutist on “The Essence of the Blues -- Flute: 10 Great Etudes for Playing and Improvising, Book & CD”, (Snidero “play-along” series). She teaches at Manhattan School of Music, The New School and is an Altus Flutes/KHS America clinician.

Jazz vocalist Rachel Caswell is adjunct lecturer of jazz voice at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she maintains an active studio serving jazz voice majors, jazz instrumental majors, and elective voice students. She has also taught courses in Jazz Theory, Jazz Improvisation, and Jazz History. As a performer, she is known for bringing a fresh approach to vocal improvisation and the interpretation of popular song. Her most recent recording, We’re All in the Dance (2018), features some of New York’s top performers including Dave Stryker, Fabian Almazan, Linda May Han Oh, Johnathan Blake, and Sara Caswell. Mark Sullivan of All About Jazz writes, “This is a great band….Caswell is the star, but she’s no diva. She is much better than that: a jazz musician in the company of other jazz musicians.”  

Professor for Artistic Research at the Jam Music Lab Private University in Vienna, Dr. Monika Herzig is the author of “David Baker – A Legacy in Music,” Experiencing Chick Corea: A Listener’s Companion, and co-editor of Jazz and Gender. She is also the chair of the research committee for the Jazz Education Network (JEN) and on the editorial committee of JAZZ (Jazz Education in Research and Practice, IU Press). As a jazz pianist she has toured the world, opened for acts such as Power of Tower, Sting, Yes and her music has won DownBeat Magazine Awards and was featured on NPR and JazzWeek. Her all-female Supergroup Sheroes was voted as one of the best groups of 2018 by DownBeat Magazine and her composition “Just Another Day at the Office” is one of the selections in New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Female Composers. Herzig’s awards include a 1994 DownBeat Magazine Award for Best Original Song, a Jazz Journalist Association Hero 2015 award, as well as grants from the NEA, the Indiana Arts Commission, MEIEA, Jazz Tours, MidAtlantic Arts, the US Embassy among others. Monika is a CASIO Artist.

Chelsea Hughey is a jazz drummer, percussionist, and educator. An Indianapolis native, she attended Butler University and received a B.A. in Music focusing on classical percussion and jazz studies. Chelsea relocated to Jersey City, NJ, and attended New Jersey City University where she completed her MM in Jazz Performance. Throughout her freelance jazz career, Chelsea has shared the stage with Indianapolis jazz legends Steve Allee, Rob Dixon, Frank Glover, and Frank Smith. She has also performed with notable NYC-based jazz musicians Walt Weiskopf, Bob Malach, Dave Douglas, Steve Davis, Steve Wilson, Jimmy Greene, Charles McPherson, and Bobby Sanabria. Chelsea is active in the Indianapolis jazz scene frequently appearing at the Chatterbox Jazz Club and The Jazz Kitchen with various local jazz musicians including Frank Glover, Monika Herzig, The Cohen-Rutkowski Project, and Erin Benedict, among others. In 2023 joined the faculty of Butler University as the Adjunct Professor of Drum Set, and in 2024 joined the faculty at Marian University as the Adjunct Professor of Percussion.

Bethany Robinson is a Yamaha Performing Artist, GRAMMY Music Educator Award Finalist, NAfME Jazz Council Chair, Indiana Jazz Educators Association (past-president) and a Jazz Education Network Board Member. She is currently the Director of Jazz for Purdue University, after building Noblesville Schools from 1 to 6 jazz ensembles, including 2 Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Finalist appearances.

Robinson was the 2014 Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year, 2015 Noblesville Teacher of the Year, and the 2023 Indiana Outstanding High School Music Educator of the Year. Bethany has presented at the Australia National Band and Orchestra Conference, Midwest Clinic, and was the guest conductor for the 2024 New York All State Jazz Ensemble. She is a clinician and adjudicator independently and for Jazz at Lincoln Center, and an avid performer on upright bass, electric bass, and vocals. Bethany has worked with Monika Herzig facilitating Indiana Jazz Girls Day since 2018.

Dr. Shawn Royer is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Music and Theatre at Marian University in Indianapolis, where she also directs the Jazz Bands. Dr. Royer is a Yamaha Performing Artist and Vandoren Artist Clinician on woodwinds and holds a PhD in Music Education and Jazz Pedagogy from the IU Jacobs School of Music. Shawn directs the Swing Shift Indy Big Band and has been a featured guest artist and adjudicator for the MFA National Festival, MFA Summer Symposium, Bloomington Jazz Festival, Purdue Jazz Festival, Freddie Hubbard Jazz Festival, Marian University Jazz Festival, Snider Jazz Festival, ISSMA Jazz Festivals, and guest directed the IJEA All-District Jazz Band. Shawn plays Yamaha clarinets and saxophones exclusively.

Dr. Lexie Signor earned her doctorate at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music in Trumpet performance. Her dissertation "The Practical Guide to Big Band Terminology and Symbols" is an excellent ready reference for all educators who share a passion for playing and teaching big band music at any level. Signor has played alongside several well-known artists across the country including Adele, Keith Urban, the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Rodney Marsalis and the Philly Big Brass as well as both major and regional Orchestras like the Marquette Symphony Orchestra and Missouri Symphony Orchestra. Signor keeps a full schedule of private lessons helping trumpeters across the country hone their craft for performances and auditions at all levels. Her students have gone on to win several different professional jobs and competitions as well as being placed in some of the most prestigious music programs in the country including the Oberlin Conservatory, The Westminster Choir College, and UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music.