Join us for Session 1, Friday, February 14, 2025, starting at 7:00pm with TBA; 8:30pm with Tia Fuller and 10:00pm with Carmen Bradford and the Mid Atlantic Jazz Orchestra.

Get ready for an electrifying night as the Tia Fuller Quartet takes the stage at 8:30 PM! Tia Fuller is bringing her fire and finesse to deliver a show you won’t forget. Known for her technical brilliance and unmatched creativity, Fuller fuses the intensity of jazz legends with her unique voice, honed through a career that spans stages with icons like Beyoncé and Aretha Franklin to her role as a professor at Berklee. Expect pure magic as Fuller’s powerhouse quartet transports you on a soulful, high-energy jazz journey.

The Main Stage ticketing is divided into Sessions. Each Session is comprised of three power-hitting Acts. Seating is divided into groups which include Premium 4-seater tables, General 6-seater tables and then General theater seating.  ALL MAIN STAGE TABLES ARE RESERVED FOR VOYAGER PASSPORT HOLDERS, so please purchase your all-access Voyager Passport in advance. You can pick up your Voyager Passports at the Box Office after 3pm on the first day of the festival. All proceeds from the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival directly support efforts of the Jazz Academy of Music.

About Tia Fuller
Tia Fuller is a Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer, and bandleader, known for her powerful blend of technical brilliance and melodic creativity. A Mack Avenue recording artist, Fuller has built a distinguished career in both the worlds of jazz and pop, balancing her life as a performer with her role as a full-time professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Born into a musical family in Aurora, Colorado, she grew up surrounded by jazz, with influences like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker, and began her musical journey on classical piano at the age of three. By high school, she had picked up the saxophone and pursued her passion for jazz, which led her to Spelman College, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude, and the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Jazz Pedagogy and Performance.

Fuller gained international recognition as a member of Beyoncé’s all-female band, touring with the pop icon on the “I AM … Sasha Fierce”; and “Beyoncé Experience” world tours. She has performed on major television shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and the Grammy Awards, and has shared the stage with legends such as Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, and Jay-Z. As a solo artist, Fuller has released five albums, including her Grammy-nominated project Diamond Cut, which showcases her creative vision alongside jazz luminaries like Dave Holland and Terri Lyne Carrington.

Her earlier albums, Pillar of Strength, Healing Space, Decisive Steps, and Angelic Warrior, also received widespread acclaim and solidified her place as a leading voice in contemporary jazz.

In addition to her recording and performing career, Fuller is deeply committed to education. At Berklee College of Music, she teaches and mentors over 70 students each week, leading ensembles and producing large-scale productions that explore the works of major pop innovators like Beyoncé and Bruno Mars. Fuller’s influence extends beyond the classroom and the stage. She has been featured in national ad campaigns, appeared in magazines such as Vanity Fair and contributed essays on sexism in jazz.

Most notably, Fuller was the musical inspiration behind the character Dorothea Williams in Pixar’s animated film Soul, for which she played alto saxophone and shaped the character’s persona. With a career that spans jazz, pop, education, and media, Tia Fuller continues to serve as a trailblazer for women in music, fulfilling what she describes as her purpose: to “Serve as a light for others”.