Anastasia Olloque
(Left to right) Pianist Liza Mendez, bass player Miriam, singer Ermelinda Cuellar, and drummer Jordan Hobbs perform at POST Houston.
On March 9, the Houston Professional Music Association celebrated International Women’s Day with their second annual “Women in Music” festival at POST Houston. The HPMA partnered with the recording industry’s Music Performance Trust Fund, Eden Plant Co., POST Houston, and the Houston Women’s Chamber Orchestra to make this free event possible.
Eden Plant Co. is a coffee and plant shop located inside POST Houston. For this event, they completely rearranged their normal setup of chairs and tables into rows of seats all facing towards a faux stage, bordered by a thick canopy of palm trees and monsteras. Plants were moved around in between sets to best complement each group, providing a lush green background for every act.
The festival ran from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., featuring a variety of sets including over 40 musicians, both soloists and musical groups. As a part of the MPTF, all musicians were required to participate in the event, resulting in these newly formed groups, accompanying singers or others when needed. During their set, the musicians watched each other for cues, either through hand waves, head tilts, or wide eyes, as they communicated through the melody.
Some of these groups consisted of musicians who had never met each other, and yet, it was not noticeable from the way they played. Ermelinda Cuellar and her trio are the perfect example of this.
Cuellar, a jazz vocalist, was joined on stage by pianist Liz Mendez, bass player Mariam and drummer Jordan Hobbs. The group gave an electrifying and groovy performance of different jazz songs, including two in Spanish, “Bésame Mucho” and “Como Fue.”
“I’ve worked with Liz before individually, but this is the first time we’ve actually all played together in front of a crowd,” said Cuellar in a short interview.
The headliners of this event were the Houston Women’s Chamber Orchestra. The set consisted of four arrangements, explicitly composed by women, with pieces ranging from as early as 1937 to as modern as 2024. With an orchestra full of talented women playing songs composed by women, there was a sense of pride and celebration in the air. Every chair in the gallery was taken and big crowds gathered along the sides and the back of the seating to hear the wonderful celebration of women in music.
The HPMA will host another free music festival, their fourth annual Jazz Fest, on April 27. This festival will include a tribute to Houston’s jazz keyboardist and composer, Joe Sample. Most music festivals at POST Houston run from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.