Flute Fest DC: Alex Hamburger Quartet/Samantha Kochis Quintet
Wednesday March 18th at Rhizome DC. Doors at 6:30PM, music at 7:30PM. Admission: $20-$35. Tickets.
Please join us for this special event featuring these two amazing ensembles lead by flutists Alex Hamburger and Samantha Kochis. Presented in collaboration with the 2026 Washington Women in Jazz Festival.
Alex Hamburger Quartet: Alex Hamburger (flute/voice), José Luiz Martins (piano), Tyrone Allen II (bass), Eliza Salem (drums)
Samantha Kochis Quintet: Samantha Kochis (flute), Judette Elliston (voice), Matei Predescu (piano), Finn Carroll (bass), Josh Mathews (drums)
For the last decade, flutist, vocalist and composer Alex Hamburger has been creating her own musical direction. Her debut And She Spoke gave voice to female poets and composers while her acclaimed sophomore album, What If?, blended acoustic and electric textures to explore transformation and perception, praised by All About Jazz, Jazzthing, and Bandcamp. She has toured across the U.S., Europe, and South America, and most recently co-produced Brazilian pianist José Luiz Martins’ Odyssey Mixtape, winner of the 2025 DCJazzPrix.
Alex remains deeply connected to the DC music community as a member of Recording Academy DC chapter and 2022 Strathmore Artist in Residence class as well as founder/producer of My Body, My Festival; a fundraiser for the DC Abortion Fund and Managing Director of CapitalBop, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting, preserving and presenting Jazz in DC.
(Photo of Alex by Efrain Ribeiro)
https://alexhamburger.bandcamp.com/
Samantha Kochis is a Brooklyn-based flutist, improviser, and composer who explores various creative environments as an artist of experimental music. In her creative works, Samantha draws from the tradition of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation to engage in sonic conversations with listeners and collaborators alike. Her playing is described as “deeply intentioned” and “sensitive yet powerful”. Samantha is the co-founder of Phonotonic, an artist collective dedicated to building community among experimental and improvising artists who share the experience of gender-based oppression. Her collaborations have included artists such as Luke Stewart, gabby fluke-mogul, and Laura Cocks, and has also been featured at the Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Samantha holds an MM in Flute Performance and Composition from The New School and a BM in K-12 Music Education from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.