Currently featuring: Hannah Carter

At just 20 years old, Hannah is a dedicated proponent for the arts and social justice. Born in New Brunswick, NJ but raised in Delaware, Hannah is a lifelong performer who has always found the purest joy in making music. She began performing at a young age, beginning her musical training as a child. As she learned the flute and vocal music in school, she learned music theory and piano through private instruction. Hannah landed her first professional job at age 9 in South Pacific at the Delaware Theatre Company. Following this start, she began to perform in school productions and local cabarets. During the pandemic, she dedicated the majority of her time to her art and social justice. This led to her competing in the inaugural season of the BroadwayWorld Next on Stage Competition and appearing as a featured soloist in Sticks and Stones, a BC/EFA Streaming Concert starring Audra McDonald. 

In high school, she began pursuing jazz. She was introduced to it as a baby via swing nursery rhymes. In her sophomore year, she began singing standards with the school jazz band. Serendipitously, she soon met Gerald Chavis, the bandleader of the Clifford Brown Festival Orchestra and a highly respected musician in the jazz scene. The two quickly bonded and Hannah began performing year-round with the big band, eventually going on to perform solo. She now studies voice and jazz history, performing alone and within a vocal jazz ensemble at her university. She can often be found listening to music far older than herself or playing around with new music in a practice room. 

Recently, Hannah started her undergraduate career at Columbia University. There, she studies Political Science and Jazz. She is a member of Columbia’s Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program, where she trains vocally and learns about the art form’s modern practices. In her freshman year, she performed on Columbia’s stages in several productions, including The Varsity Show, the school’s oldest and most exclusive performing arts tradition. The following year, she worked with director Alex Hare, a Varsity Show and Columbia alum, who invited her to audition for Rock Rising’s Fall 2023 production of Everyday Charlie. Playing the overzealous but earnest “Patti”, Hannah made her NYC professional debut. 

Hannah hails from a family of educators, social workers, and community-focused changemakers. Following in their footsteps, she sees the importance of building community, creating avenues for others to feel seen and represented, and using one’s resources to make the world a better place through advocacy. During her senior year of high school, Hannah collaborated with the United Way of Delaware’s Racial Justice Collaborative and students from a variety of other schools to organize the state’s first ever Delaware Black Student Youth Summit. At the summit, students were able to converse with local activists, artists, and elected officials, convene with like minded organizers from other schools, display their talents, and network with businesses and corporations for internship opportunities. Hoping to use her political science background, Hannah hopes to advance public policy that creates lasting positive change in our communities on measures that address issues such as incarceration and societal reintegration, healthcare benefits for all, and codifying arts education into all school systems. 

Fortunately, Hannah has been the recipient of several awards that recognize her impact including the 2023 Governor’s Youth Service Award, the 2023 Clifford Brown Young and Swinging Award, and the 2023 NAACP Youth Visionary Award.