LuluFest Berskshires 2026 Artists
Dena DeRose
It’s no small accomplishment to be thought of as “The most creative and compelling singer- pianist since Shirley Horn”, but that’s exactly how Joel Siegel of the Washington City Paper described Dena DeRose. If she comes to your city and you want to catch the show, go early, because the room is going to be packed. She not only awes her audiences and music critics with her facility on the piano and her swinging, soothing vocal style but, as Richard Scheinin of the San Jose Mercury aptly put it, “… she exudes joy … what soul!” DeRose always delivers “…vivid and often exciting demonstrations of how innovative her musical concepts are…” (Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner).
She has brought that vitality and innovation to performances alongside the likes of Ray Brown, Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, Benny Golson, Scott Hamilton, John Scofield, Benny Green, Ray Drummond, Houston Person, Tootie Heath, Deborah Brown, Ken Peplowski, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Kenny Burrell, David ‘Fathead’ Newman, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Mark Murphy, Marvin Stamm, and many, many others.
Suzi Stern
Suzi Stern is a jazz vocalist, lyricist, composer and educator currently living in Lenox Massachusetts.
Stern has released 8 CD’s to date under her own name (Viewpoint Records, Aardvark Records and Bus Biscuit Records), and has performed on a myriad of other artists projects. Her release “Romancing the Dark” steps out of the jazz idiom for which she is known, and is a collection of her own original compositions and arrangements based on eleven poems by Stern.
She is a published poet and her lyrics appear in the Bill Evans second edition fake book and David Friesen’s book of transcriptions called ” Years Through Time,” both Hal Leonard publications.
Suzi was inducted into the 2023 Austin Jazz Society Hall Of Fame for her many contributions to the Texas music scene.
Peggy Stern
In 2020, LuluFest became virtual out of necessity, because of Covid-19. Music being presented on film - even if live-streamed was not feasible for LuluFest 2021, so we used the space and time, to create an archive of Festivals over the years. Hence, the mini-Doc to be shown at LuluFest 2022, memorializing all 17 years of the Festival(s), and the women who participated. This is our re-entry into the live festival tradition, and we are very much looking forward to presenting another eclectic and joyous celebration of women band leaders!
Mary Ann McSweeney
Mary Ann McSweeney has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Joanne Brackeen, Lee Konitz, Gil Goldstein, and Bucky Pizzarelli. She has also played for renowned conductors, Leonard Bernstein, Lalo Schifrin, and John Williams. McSweeney has performed with Renee Rosnes, Vic Juris, Ken Peplowski, Dennis Mackrel, Lewis Nash, and Larry Goldings. Big Band performances include Maiden Voyage and Diva, and she has performed with her own quintet at the Seixal Jazz Festival in Portugal, and with the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center. She has arranged for and recorded with Warner Brothers artist, Lea Delaria. Recent engagements include the Berkshire Jazz Festival, backing up Veronica Swift, and traveling to the Roswell Jazz Festival in New Mexico to perform with Ken Peplowski, Randy Sandke, Holly Hoffman, Chuck Redd and Mike Wofford. McSweeney has toured Europe and has performed with David Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness and five-time Tony award winning vocalist Audra McDonald. Her orchestrations can be heard on Chita Rivera’s CD entitled “Now I Swing” and her version of “Avenue Q Swings” is available on iTunes. McSweeney performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival with Claire Daly and the Baritone Monk Band, which was rated in the top ten on jazz radio in the USA.
Summer Camargo
A recipient of the Jerome Greene Fellowship at Juilliard, Camargo earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees there. Fate knocked in 2021 during one of the pandemic lockdowns when she was performing a virtual concert online for the New Jersey Jazz Society and saxophonist Lenny Pickett, the musical director of the Saturday Night Live band, happened to catch her playing. Longtime trumpeter Earl Gardner was getting to retire, and after a few auditions she was hired to join the show’s 48th season—even before she’d graduated from Juilliard!
The whirlwind of Camargo’s early career accomplishments include playing with Jon Batiste at the Newport Jazz Festival, touring with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (two of her compositions have been recorded by the band) and working with Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the former John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Recently, she was a panelist at the Jazz Congress with trumpeter Jon Faddis and author Ricky Ricciardi to talk about Louis Armstrong.
Moving forward, Camargo is ready to start focusing more on her music.
“I’ve got enough material for two new albums, and the band I work with has been playing some of these songs for over two years,” she said. “It’s really just a matter of fitting a recording session into my schedule. But it’s time for me to take things a step or two further ahead. I really do love leading a band and playing my own music.”