Inaugural Key of She Girls’ Jazz Conference, Hosted at UArts, April 2019

•  Olivia Hughart (Artistic Director and 18 year-old NYU jazz studies freshman)
  
•  Dr. Jenny L. Neff (Leading Advisor and Director of Music Education at University of the Arts)
  
•  Amy Hughart (Managing Director and Communications Professional)

In 2018-2019, Olivia Hughart, a high school senior at Lower Merion High School, and alto saxophone player, organized this conference as her senior project. Prior to this event in 2014, she founded the all-girls jazz ensemble called “Key of She” at Bala Cynwyd Middle School to support and encourage more girls to be involved in jazz, with an ultimate goal of equalizing the ratio of girls to boys in school jazz programs. Jenny Neff was the jazz band director at Bala Cynwyd MS at the time, and mentored Olivia as she formed the group. Neff remained a mentor to Olivia, as the girls moved through high school. Olivia recruited girls from all four secondary schools in the Lower Merion School District to expand into an all-girls big band and combo that performed at school events and around the community. The group still exists today, 6 years later. This inaugural conference celebrated young women (ages 12-22) in jazz, and was also open to educators, parents, and friends who support women in jazz.

Jenny L. Neff Ed.D ~  Music Educator and Educational Leader
​Jenny's Creative EDge Created 2018  ~ Jenny's Creative EDge L.L.C., established 2020