Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alum Jess Godwin ’05, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, will perform in concert Saturday, January 28, at Steppenwolf Theatre‘s new 1700 Theatre space, located at 1700 N. Halsted in Chicago. Godwin’s concert, “Muses,” features selections from her Muses project, a video series of original music inspired by coffeeshop conversations with friends. Vocal soundscapes, live looping, and storytelling come together in this hybrid of theatre and pop/soul music. Godwin performed a selection from her concert repertoire on Chicago’s WGN TV “Midday Fix” segment January 25. Click here to see the video.

Jess Godwin is a singer-songwriter and actor who performs regularly both in Chicago’s music scene and in theatrical productions by such noted theatres as Northlight Theatre and Writers’ Theatre. Her “Muses” concert is part of Steppenwolf’s “LookOut Series,” a new multi-genre performance series, presenting a wide variety of work, coming from a diverse array of voices, artists emerging and established alike. The 1700 Theatre is a casual, intimate, and flexible 80-seat venue located behind Steppenwolf’s Front Bar cafe. Doors open at 7:30 PM, and the show begins at 8 PM. Tickets are $20.

As previously reported in this blog, Godwin recently won a 2016 3Arts Award, presented by 3Arts, a nonprofit grantmaking organization based in Chicago. Godwin is one of ten recipients of the 2016 3Arts Awards, which are presented to women artists, artists of color, and artists with disabilities working in the performing, teaching, and visual arts in Chicago. Godwin was recently selected by 3Arts to lead a songwriting workshop called “Shameless.” The workshop encourages young people to find their own voices and combat feelings of shame through discussion, free writing, and basic songwriting. Godwin aims to bring the project to Chicago public schools this spring at no cost to the schools. For more information on the project, watch this video: