TenleyFest
Saturday, May 31, 2025 from 3-5 pm,
Wisconsin Avenue, Fessenden to River
The event celebrates live music at businesses along Wisconsin Avenue. We will be offering family-friendly music performances and chalk art with local artists. Kids can participate in creating art and add their wish to a wishing tree. Participating businesses are offering store discounts to help celebrate!
Musicians
Taisha Estrada Quartet – Coffee Nature
Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Taisha Estrada grew up with grandparents who felt a strong devotion to la patria, their homeland. The rhythms of salsa, bomba, and plena course through Estrada’s veins. Though she moved away from the island when she was young, her passion for Latin culture has only grown with time.
Estrada’s style, which blends Latin jazz, r&b, and pop, is comparable to artists such as Omara Portuondo, Elis Regina, Natalia LaFourcade, and iLe. Lyrically, she is heavily influenced by the sensory experience of the Caribbean, and her work explores topics including life, love and the beautiful and mystifying bond between humanity and the earth. Estrada’s performances evoke power and grace.
Having only just begun her career, Estrada has been very warmly received. She has performed for a wide variety of audiences at venues including Mr. Henry’s, Bossa Bistro, Jojo’s, The National Press Club, the Strathmore’s AMP and the Smithsonian Museum. In 2020, she won second place in Blues Alley’s Ella Fitzgerald vocal competition. In 2021, she was selected as one of the Strathmore’s six Artists-in-Residence. She looks forward to May, when she will have her designated month of performances.
DJ – Verified Wines and Spirits
Jodie Knox (Vocals) and Alan Etter (Guitar) – Le Chat Noir
Jodie Knox and Alan Etter perform top 40’s music ranging from the 1970s to current day. They have performed at Pearl Street Warehouse, Kirwin’s, Cantina Bambina, Capital Yacht Club, and other venues in the area such as the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. A former member of the Coast Guard, Jodie lives on a boat and is also an award-winning author. Alan Etter is a reporter and news anchor for WTOP Radio in Washington, DC. Their duo, The Seacocks, has a repertoire of nearly three hundred songs and performs almost every week throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Cristian Perez – Print Space
Cristian Perez is an Argentine-American 7-string guitarist, composer, and arranger based in Northern Virginia. Cristian has performed throughout the world in Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, South Korea, and is very active in the greater D.C. area. His debut album “Anima Mundi” has received numerous international reviews and reached #13 in the CMJ World Music charts in the USA. Cristian is a former Artist in Residence at Strathmore (’15), and won 2 Wammie Awards (‘22) for his work with Project Locrea. Cristian is a Kremona Guitars Artist and MCO Guitars Artist, and has been featured in the industry-standard publication Vintage Guitar Magazine. Cristian graduated from George Mason University with degrees in both Classical Guitar (BM, ’10), and Jazz Studies (MM, ’12).
Cristian has formally studied with Berta Rojas, Larry Snitzler, Rick Whitehead, Ken Hall, Mike Stern, Roland Dyens, Pepe Romero, Gilad Hekselman, Nelson Veras, Steve Herberman, and many more. Cristian’s love of classical music, jazz, pop, soul, and folk music from around the world inspire his creative process and add to his musical palette both as a bandleader and sideman. Cristian is very active performing as a freelancer and collaborates with many musicians of diverse backgrounds. He co-leads world music fusion group Project Locrea and is the founder/leader of the guitar-only ensemble The Guitar Renegades. Cristian is an adjunct professor at NOVA Community College (Alexandria, VA), and is available for masterclasses, clinics, and workshops.
Trio – Steak n’ Egg
Bobby Muncy Trio – The Tile Shop
Bobby Muncy is a versatile and in-demand saxophonist, recording artist, composer, arranger, educator, bandleader, and mouthpiece refacer in the Washington, DC metro area. He studied music at Florida State University (BA) and University of Maryland, College Park (MM). Bobby is known for his eclectic style and musical energy he brings to bandstand. He continues to present performances and collaborations in the Washington DC area, Baltimore, New York City, and the entire eastern seaboard.
Robert DiLutis and Mary Voutsas Duo – Middle C Music
https://www.robertdilutis.com/
Robert DiLutis is currently professor of clarinet at the University of Maryland, School of Music, College Park. Previously Mr. DiLutis was professor of clarinet at the Louisiana State University School of Music from 2009-2012, assistant principal and e-flat clarinetist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and a clarinet professor at the Eastman School of Music. Mr. DiLutis has also served on the faculties of the St. Mary’s University in Texas and Nazareth College in New York. Most recently Mr. DiLutis developed and taught an Orchestral Audition Training Program for the Eastman School of Music. His many clinics and master classes have included Ithaca College, Hartt School of Music, Boston University, New England Conservatory, Longy School of Music and the Academia y Banda De Musica De Norena, Oviedo, Spain.
Making his Carnegie Hall Recital debut in 1989, Mr. DiLutis has also performed as a featured soloist with ensembles such as the San Antonio Symphony, Baton Rouge Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Recently Mr. DiLutis toured with the New York Philharmonic on its historic trip to Pyongyang, North Korea. Mr. DiLutis is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he studied with David Weber. In addition to his performance career Mr. DiLutis in the creator of the Reed Machine, a reed-making device used by top professionals around the world. Mr. DiLutis is an Artist for Buffet Group USA and plays Buffet clarinets exclusively.
As part of Professor DiLutis’ comprehensive program at the university, he is offering classes in Clarinet Choir, Instrument Repair, Single Reed Making, Orchestral Repertoire, Clarinet Master Class, How to Win an Orchestral Audition, Chamber Music, Clarinet, Eb Clarinet and Bass Clarinet lessons. In 2016, Mr. DiLutis had been principal clarinetist with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra for the past 8 years and will touring with the Maryland Clarinet Society to Dublin Ireland this summer. You can hear Mr. DiLutis on his recording on the Delos, Centaur, New World and Tonsehen recording labels.
http://www.maryvoutsaspiano.com/
Mary-Victoria Voutsas is a “powerful” and “enthralling pianist” (Washington City Paper) with a distinguished career that spans solo performance, collaborative work, teaching, and music leadership. Known for her captivating artistry, she has performed on prestigious stages including the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and Terrace Theatre, Lisner Auditorium, and various embassies, and she has been a featured pianist for major events such as the 75th NATO Summit, the Warner Brothers 2024 Paris Olympics Launch, and the Discovery Channel’s 2024 Olympics Launch.
In addition to her solo engagements, she has been a visiting Artist in Residency at the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, performing and leading outreach programs. Her extensive collaboration includes ensemble work with the National Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Chamber Orchestra, and NPR’s Tiny Desk series, as well as performing for the National Broadcasting Association. She has served as rehearsal pianist for such renowned artists as Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alison Krauss. She is also a member of several chamber ensembles, including the Salon Trio, Duo Ancil-Voutsas, and the Kombos Collective
Dr. Voutsas’ expertise extends beyond traditional performance. She is also an accomplished harpsichordist, choral conductor, and prepared piano performer. Her notable appearances include performing as a harpsichord soloist with the Peabody Chamber Orchestra for “What Makes It Great?” and performing in several embassy concerts, including those for the Czech and Thai embassies. She has also lectured and performed at respected institutions, including Santa Clara University, University of Delaware, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and numerous Hellenic Studies departments and organizations.
Visual Artists
Liz Ashe
Elizabeth Ashe is a sculptor and poet, who earned her MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and an MFA in creative writing from Chatham University. Her public art projects have recently been on view at the Bemidji Sculpture Walk, Sukkahwood Festival, and Art All Night DC. Ashe’s poetry has appeared in Bourgeon, Yellow Medicine Review, the Lavender Review, Vagabondage, and Badlands Literary Journal, among many others. Her work is included in Studio Visit Magazine, issue 46. She was lead curator for “Not So Concrete,” an exhibition on the role or architecture in our lives, funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Due to COVID, the exhibit went online. She was just awarded a grant from the same organization, to support her art practice for the next year. Ashe lives with her girlfriend in Washington, D.C., where she has an active studio practice. Ashe currently has a studio residency at Portico Gallery and Studios in Brentwood, MD. She works as the Exhibits and Event Technician for the Katzen Center at American University.
Monica Perdomo
linkedin.com/in/monica-perdomo-7b6723255/
With over eight years of experience as a visual arts educator, I am passionate about teaching and inspiring students of diverse backgrounds and abilities to explore and express their creativity through various mediums and techniques. I have a BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design, and I am fluent in Spanish and English.
While at St. Pius X Regional School, I built a bilingual STEAM classroom and introduced Figma UX graphics to 5th-8th graders. I share the school’s vision of fostering academic excellence, social justice, and spiritual growth, and I strive to create a supportive and inclusive learning environment for my students.
In my previous role as a visual arts educator at PGCPS, I taught the arts program at Frances Fuchs and Thomas Stone offering painting, printmaking, sculpture, and paper-making to over 800 students. I also collaborated with other teachers and staff to integrate the arts across the curriculum and promote cultural awareness and appreciation. I used my skills in school systems, coaching and mentoring, and visual arts to design and implement engaging and differentiated lessons, assess student progress, and showcase student work in exhibitions and events within the community. I am proud of the positive impact that I had on my students’ academic and personal development, and the feedback that I received from parents and administrators.
Julia Fouser – American University
Other Activities
Historical Tour of Tenleytown
Want to know more about the people and organizations that influenced the development of Tenleytown? Curious to learn more about the community’s historic sites? Join us for a 90-minute walking tour to learn about the rich history of Tenleytown, which will include the civil-war era Grant Road and the neighborhood’s remaining 18th and early 19th century estate houses.
Friendship Place Open House
Learn more about how Friendship Place helps our community. They will hold an open house during TenleyFest at 4713 Wisconsin Ave NW. You can learn more at: https://friendshipplace.org/