Broadway star to appear at free Songbook Academy event
6/11/2025 12AM
During the always-entertaining Public Masterclass on July 15, Michael Feinstein (left) and guest mentor Jessie Mueller will provide real-time critiques as 10 Songbook Academy singers perform on the Payne & Mencias Palladium stage.
Jessie Mueller will join Michael Feinstein for July 15 Public Masterclass
CARMEL, Ind. – Tony and GRAMMY award-winning Broadway performer Jessie Mueller will join Great American Songbook Foundation Founder Michael Feinstein for a free public event July 15 at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts.
The Public Masterclass is one of three livestreamed public events that highlight the annual Songbook Academy®, the Songbook Foundation’s summer music intensive for 40 of the nation’s most talented high school singers. Now in its 16th year, the weeklong program immerses young performers in America’s musical heritage and helps them develop as artists under the guidance of Broadway stars, entertainment professionals and music educators.
During the always-entertaining Public Masterclass, scheduled 2-5 p.m. ET Tuesday, July 15, Feinstein and guest mentor Mueller will provide real-time critiques as 10 randomly selected singers perform on the Payne & Mencias Palladium stage. Admission is pay-what-you-can with no minimum. On-site tickets and livestream registration are available at TheSongbook.org/Masterclass25.
Mueller’s stage and screen career has included originating the roles of Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, for which she won a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and GRAMMY Award, and Jenna in Waitress, earning Tony, GRAMMY and Drama Desk nominations. For her starring role of Julie Jordan in Carousel, she won the Drama Desk Award and earned Tony and GRAMMY nominations. Mueller was seen most recently on Broadway in Tracy Letts’ The Minutes.
The other Songbook Academy public events available now are:
- Songbook Showcase – 7 p.m. ET Thursday, July 17
All 40 participants will perform a solo on the Payne & Mencias Palladium stage. The evening also will include special performances by Michael Feinstein and guest mentor Nikki Renée Daniels, whose 12 Broadway productions have included Once Upon a Mattress (Lady Larken), The Book of Mormon (Nabulungi), Les Misérables (Fantine), and the Tony Award-winning revivals of Company (Jenny) and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Clara). Tickets for the Songbook Showcase are pay-what-you-can with a $5 minimum for in-person attendees and no minimum for livestream viewers.
- The Songbook Academy in Concert – 7 p.m. ET Saturday, July 19
Feinstein will emcee as all 40 singers perform choral numbers, small group ensembles and featured solos, celebrating their growth over the week and paying tribute to iconic composers and lyricists of the Great American Songbook. In-person tickets start at just $25. Livestream access is pay-what-you-can with no minimum.
Tickets and other information are available now at TheSongbook.org, by phone at (317) 843-3800 or toll-free at (877) 909-2787.
The Songbook Academy receives generous support from the Efroymson Family Fund, Traditions Senior Communities, the City of Carmel, the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Salon 01.
Guest Mentor support is provided by generous contributions from individual donors, including Libby and Randy Brown, Tim and Karyl McGeath, Bob and Rose Popovich, and the Tobin Family.
The Songbook Academy in Concert performance is part of Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts’ 2025-2026 Center Presents Season sponsored by Allied Solutions and its BHI Senior Living Songbook Series.
About the Great American Songbook Foundation
The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation, founded in 2007 by five-time Grammy® Award nominee Michael Feinstein, is to inspire and educate by celebrating the Great American Songbook – the timeless standards of pop, jazz, Broadway and Hollywood. Headquartered at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana, the Foundation advances this rich legacy by curating physical artifacts of its creators, performers and publishers; operating a multimedia exhibit gallery; overseeing the Songbook Hall of Fame; offering programs for the public and research opportunities for scholars and artists; and providing educational opportunities for student musicians, including the annual Songbook Academy® summer intensive. The Foundation is a Cultural Affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Grammy Museum®. More information is available at TheSongbook.org.
