About this Event
Allison Wheeler is an award-winning vocalist and songwriter from California based in the Czech Republic. Known for her flexible voice and creative approach to genre, she’s been called “a composer of great sonic imagination” (Peter Quinn, Jazzwise, UK) and has been compared with artists such as Becca Stevens (JazzTimes) and Gretchen Parlato (Jazzwise). Her debut album winterspring (Ubuntu Music, 2022) features leading Czech musicians and received top praise from international critics, including a 4-star review in Jazzwise magazine. Wheeler also performs with bands such as Tour Guide Blonde and Petr Nohavica – Glance, and currently serves as assistant professor of jazz voice at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno.
Alex Sjobeck is a nationally recognized jazz pianist and composer whose music has been featured on PBS stations across the U.S. and in short films with millions of views. Her distinctive sound, described as “the combination of Post-Impressionistic painting, a jigsaw puzzle, childhood, and groove”, blends modern jazz with pop, world music, and cinematic storytelling.
Together they will entrance listeners in a world of story and sound with rich tones, powerful and emotive deliveries.
Allison Wheeler is an award-winning artist making her mark on the European scene. She is “a composer of great sonic imagination” (Peter Quinn, Jazzwise magazine, UK), and a versatile voice with a love for creative challenge. After being named Undergraduate Vocal Soloist of the Year by DownBeat magazine in 2018, Wheeler relocated to the Czech Republic, where she has broken free from ‘straight-ahead’ roots and is forging her own path. Critics have compared her to artists such as Becca Stevens (JazzTimes) and Gretchen Parlato (Jazzwise), yet Wheeler creates a world uniquely her own. Her music crosses genre lines with ease, drawing on her background in jazz and folk traditions and her love of visual art to construct a realm of improvisation, nostalgia, and impressionistic detail.
Originally from the California coast, Wheeler sang at the Monterey Jazz Festival as a high school student and went on to study jazz voice at the University of Northern Colorado with Julia Dollison and Kerry Marsh. As a member of the award-winning ensemble Vocal Lab, she shared the stage with artists like the New York Voices, Vertical Voices, and Aubrey Logan, received three DownBeat awards in the graduate category between 2016–2018, and performed at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conferences in 2016 and 2018.
Since moving to Europe, she has become a sought-after collaborator, performer, and educator. Her debut album winterspring, released in 2022 on the UK label Ubuntu Music, received international acclaim and a 4-star review from Jazzwise. The record features Czech jazz luminaries David Dorůžka (guitar) and Luboš Soukup (soprano sax & clarinet), alongside her longtime band: Daniel Bulatkin (piano/keyboards), Max Makagonov (double bass), and Petr Nohavica (drums). Together, they have appeared at festivals such as JazzFest Passau (Germany), Jazzy Fest (Slovakia), South Bohemia Jazz Fest, Jazz ve Městě, Jazzinec (Czech Republic), and more. In 2021, she sang with Lizz Wright. as part of the Prague Sounds festival.
Wheeler performs regularly with several projects, including her newly formed indie-rock band Tour Guide Blonde and Petr Nohavica - Glance, the jazz project led by her husband and drummer Petr Nohavica—winner of the 2025 Central European Jazz Showcase and whose debut album was shortlisted for the Czech Anděl Awards in 2023. In addition to performing and composing, Wheeler currently serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Voice at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno and teaches at workshops and summer programs around the Czech Republic.
Alex Sjobeck is a nationally recognized jazz pianist and composer whose music has been featured on PBS stations across the U.S. and in short films with millions of views. Her distinctive sound, described as “the combination of Post-Impressionistic painting, a jigsaw puzzle, childhood, and groove”, blends modern jazz with pop, world music, and cinematic storytelling.
Her latest album, Pictures in Time, was included on the Nominating Ballot for the 2023 GRAMMY Awards and praised by All About Jazz and Contemporary Fusion Reviews, among others. The short dance film Silhouette, set entirely to her original music, aired nationally on PBS, won “Best Performance” at the Experimental, Dance, & Music Film Festival, and was a finalist at the California Music Video Awards. The composition was also named a semi-finalist in both the “Jazz” and “Music Video” categories of the International Songwriting Competition 2024. Another short film she scored, Butter Lover, has received over 13 million views on YouTube. In September of 2025, she became a recipient of the Pathways to Jazz grant for an upcoming release.
Sjobeck has performed at premier venues and festivals across the country, including Smalls Jazz Club (NYC), Dazzle (Denver), The Velvet Note (Atlanta), The 1905 (Portland), The Royal Room (Seattle), the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, the UNC•Greeley Jazz Festival, and the Commencement Bay Jazz Festival. She was also selected for the Jazz Education Network’s Young Composers Showcase, where she performed her original duo piece Blue Light at the 2023 JEN Conference in Orlando.
Beyond her performing career, Sjobeck is a passionate advocate for jazz education and community involvement. In 2025, she co-founded Lala’s Jazz, a Boise-based nonprofit dedicated to presenting and promoting jazz music and education. She is also on faculty at Boise State University and directs the Gene Harris All-Stars Jazz Program, a role for which she received the 2025 Boise City Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Arts Education.
Sjobeck began her academic journey on scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music and later served as a teaching assistant while earning her master’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado’s renowned jazz program.
"Sjobeck has an intimate touch and classical disposition on her instrument that is striking in its intricate and expressive clarity."
— Mike Jurkovic, All About Jazz
"They have defined their own voice in the duo idiom, blurring the lines of tradition and avant-garde and bringing new fans to the art form who otherwise may not have sought it out."
— Nick Finzer, Outside in Music
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Hamilton Studio, 1427 West Dean Avenue, Spokane, United States
USD 17.85 to USD 44.52
