BIOGRAPHY

Updated Jan 2024

Olivia Hughart is a jazz saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer, advocate, and a recent graduate of New York University, with a major in Jazz Studies and a minor in Public Policy and Management. She is a gigging and recording musician with bands in New York City, Philadelphia, and beyond. Hughart is a member of the NYChillharmonic, the Grace Fox Big Band, and the Andrew Neu Big Band, has subbed for Triad Brass, New Heights Brass Band, DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and is frequently called for off-Broadway productions. Hughart has attracted the attention of the press from various publications including Philly Magazine, NPR Live Sessions, WRTI, NYU News, Cool Jazz Radio, Shoutout LA, Voyage LA, and various podcasts. Hughart is a Presser Scholar, 2023 JEN Mary Jo Papich Women in Jazz Scholarship winner, 2020 Bruce Montgomery Foundation Springboard Grant Winner, and 2020 Pennsylvania Project Stream Grant winner. 

Hughart is also the founder and artistic director of Key of She Jazz (keyofshejazz.org), which is an organization that supports and encourages girls and non-binary students in jazz starting in middle school (est. 2014) and uniquely, builds a community of support of all genders and ages.  In 2019, Hughart organized the first-ever Key of She Jazz conference, celebrating women in jazz and attended by more than 200 students, educators, and musicians from Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Since then, she and Key of She Jazz have continued to spotlight women in jazz and address gender barriers through a series of virtual events that attracted a global audience; they resumed in-person events in February 2023. Hughart has also led numerous presentations regarding gender in jazz.