Ritenuto Foundation, Inc., in collaboration with the St. Edward’s University Music Department, is proud to announce its first annual Austin women-led band Festival: LuluFest, to be held on June 3rd, 2017, in the newly renovated Jones Auditorium, situated in the Ragsdale Center, on the St. Ed’s campus. The focus of this one-day event (concerts and workshops) will be women bandleaders — both seasoned and up-and-coming, who are making their music the focus of their lives. The evening concert line-up is outstanding: Two phenomenal musicians from NYC will be headlining: world renowned jazz pianist/ composer Helen Sung, http://www.helensung.com and grammy award winning trumpeter Ingrid Jensen http://ingridjensen.com. A young star from New Orleans, Albanie Falletta will present western swing jazz on her guitar/vocals. From the Austin area, Susanna Sharpe and her Brazilian quartet. The evening will culminate with Peggy Stern's exciting driving latin group, Estrella Salsa also featuring the best and brightest stars on the Austin music scene. workshops will be offered earlier in the day (piano, voice, trumpet, guitar, and music business), led by the bandleaders, will take place earlier in the day, in St. Ed’s music annex. This is NOT a women’s festival; on the contrary, most of the bands are generously peopled with men. The principle behind the festival is simply that the women leaders and their concepts of the music are being presented here, thus setting it apart from most other festivals in the country (and the world) at this juncture in history. We feel that this Festival and Workshop day will encourage young women who don’t often get to see women in a leadership role in the music business. We think the time is ripe and the forward-thinking city of Austin is ready, to house an intimate, elegant Festival of this nature.