Telling Stories of Black Empowerment

A 2022 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, Jas Ogiste is a New York City-based classical pianist. She has been recognized by institutions such as The Harlem School of Arts, National Association for Negro Musicians, Flint Initiative, and The Watson Foundation for her musicianship and dedication to centering black classical history in her concert programming. Jas currently works in the Americas Society/Council of the Americas music department and as a researcher for WQXR’s newly released podcast, “Every Voice with Terrance McKnight”.

 

During her undergraduate career, Jas studied with Haewon Song and has been mentored by renowned classical pianists Christina and Michelle Naughton, Peter Basquin, Elinor Freer, Robert Shannon, and Mimi Solomon. Jas is continuing her performing career as a pianist in New York City and has been heard at performance halls including Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall, The Harlem School of the Arts, and in recent performance at Lincoln Center’s Sidewalk Studio. 

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As an alumna of Oberlin Conservatory’s Black Musicians Guild and Latinx Music Union, Jas’s work - both professional and musical -  reflects her Afro-Caribbean culture and identity. She was a national competitor for a 2022 Watson Foundation Fellowship for her project proposal “Bridging Two Worlds: Navigating Blackness in Classical Music” and she intends to continue to empower and spotlight artists of the African diaspora through her work, studies, and musical output.