33rd Annual City Jazz Festival
Featured Thursday Afternoon Concert:
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Sasha Berliner - vibraphone with the Fresno City College Jazz Ensemble directed by Paul Lucckesi
Fresno City College Theatre
1101 E University Ave, Fresno, CA 93741
12:00 PM
Part of the 33 Annual City Jazz Festival
Free Admission
City Jazz Festival Day Events:
Thursday March 20, 2025
22 student groups from throughout the Central Valley perform and receive workshops
from some of the finest jazz educators in the country.
Fresno City College Theatre
1101 E University Ave, Fresno, CA 93741
Free Admission
8:00am - 6:10pm
Friday, March 21, 2025
Fresno City College Theatre
1101 E University Ave, Fresno, CA 93741
Free Admission
9:25am - 5:30pm
17 student groups from throughout the Central Valley perform and receive workshops from some of the finest jazz educators in the country
About the City Jazz Festival
Founded by Mike Dana in 1991, and currently run by FCC Jazz Studies Director Paul Lucckesi, the City Jazz Festival has grown to an event hosting dozens of student jazz groups from throughout California, performing in our Theatre here at Fresno City College. The emphasis has always been on education. A panel of jazz educators from around the country critiques the students’ performances, and participants attend a variety of workshops presented by some of the greatest professional jazz performers in the country. City Jazz has fostered jazz education by awarding summer music camp scholarships to support outstanding student performers to the Berklee College of Music, Stanford Jazz Workshop, Milestones Summer Music Camp, and the Lafayette Jazz Camp, to name a few. The event culminates with a performance by the featured guest artist, this year Sasha Berliner, accompanied by the FCC Jazz Ensemble. Over 12,000 student jazz groups have participated, and over $100,000 in scholarships have been awarded during the Festival’s 33 years here at FCC. This year 39 groups will perform for the community and our panel of esteemed adjudicators.
About Sasha Berliner
Sasha Berliner is a musician, composer, producer, and band leader from San Francisco, CA. A rock drummer turned vibraphonist, Sasha was first introduced to the instrument through her high school Oakland School for the Arts as part of the jazz program. While she had multi-faceted interests throughout her adolescence that spanned academia and the arts, the vibraphone swept the lead in becoming her life passion.
She moved to New York City in 2016 to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and study under acclaimed vibraphonist Stefon Harris, who was recommended to him personally when trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire heard her at Stanford Jazz Workshop in high school. Harris’ influence on Sasha, in particular with regard to harmony, is something that she felt was “nearly prophetic” in helping her liberate her unique style on the instrument.
Sasha got her major start on the NYC scene when she debuted at NYC Winter Jazz Fest in 2018, followed soon after by Atlanta Jazz Fest and Burlington Jazz Fest in the same year, all before age 20. Sasha was the also first US recipient of the LetterOne “Rising Stars” Jazz Award in 2019, where she headlined 10 reputable jazz festival throughout the U.S. and Canada. This gave Sasha her first official foray in to touring as a band leader and facilitated the creation of her debut album.
Sasha’s music work remains primarily based in both New York City and Los Angeles. She has gone on to headline international venues like Newport Jazz Festival, The Blue Note, Montreal Jazz Festival, and Monterey Jazz Festival. She is an endorsing artist for Marimba One and Vater Drumsticks. She has been a guest lecturer at esteemed universities and programs like University of Champaign-Illinois, UC San Diego, Stanford Jazz Workshop, and Berklee College of Music, and is currently a Professor of Jazz and Jazz Composition at UC Irvine.
Sasha’s third studio album, Fantome, is slated to release in March 2025 on Outside In Music. The album features musicians such as Taylor Eigsti, Harish Raghavan, Jongkuk Kim, and Lex Korten.
