Kevin Lambert

Kevin Lambert is the host and founder of Open Piano. He has played piano, drums and led bands on four continents, including stints with Hannibal Means and Ghanian HiLife great C.K. Mann. Gigging all over the world, he grew to hate the loud, canned music that has been an unfortunate signature of bars everywhere, and formed Open Piano to give people a break from all that. He plays percussion in Malcolm X Park, and his last D.C. band was Los Caribbeat. As a writer and journalist, he has ghosted the memoirs of jazz altoist Leo Wright, written about heads of state, economists, authors, politicians, Houngons of Voudoo, and an Anglo Calypsonian named Mighty Whitey.

Carol Munday

Carol Munday, piano and voice, started playing piano at the age of six. Fully versed in the classical canon, she has found her specialty in mixing popular song with elaborate, almost unheard-of harmonies and chord inversions. Gifted with a rich, intoxicating voice, she turns pop tunes into works of art.

Kaleb Davis

is a piano, guitar and songwriting teacher for Just Rock Enterprises and a music therapy student at Howard University who cites gospel and soul among his influences. With a powerful voice and equally compelling lyrics, he sings songs that are sure to make you feel. He has performed at numerous DMV venues, including the Smithsonian Museum of African American History.

Ed Rejuney

One of the founding fathers of Open Piano, Ed is a D.C. native who has been playing piano since he was a lad. One of those rare classically trained pianists who can improvise jazz solos with the best of them, Ed also leads the Ed Rejuney Quartet. He is perhaps the DMV's finest interpreter of the music of Richard Rodgers.

Wendy Bond

Wendy began singing in public before she learned to read, and she has performed for many years as a choral singer. After moving to D.C. from the UK in the 1980s, she joined The Thomas Circle Singers, where she continues to sing and also serves as music librarian. At Open Piano, she has been thrilled to collaborate with talented pianists to develop her repertoire as a solo vocalist. Her song choices range from Gilbert and Sullivan to Joni Mitchell, but her specialty is the work of Steven Sondheim.

Suraj Kumar

Suraj Kumar has been singing and playing piano since high school. He started coming to Open Piano in February 2023, and he’s grateful to be part of such a welcoming musical community. He enjoys listening to and learning all kinds of music, from R&B to Indian classical to gospel.

Stefan Sullivan

Stefan Sullivan has performed his blend of cocktail jazz and honky tonk in over 500 gigs in the UK and the US. He was the house pianist at Freud Cafe, Oxford's (UK) hottest night club and has hosted DC shows at The Saloon, Atlas Theater, The Willard Hotel, and the Downtown Holiday Market.
He has been with Open Piano since our first year at Purple Patch.
His 2010 debut album, Happy Clinic/Memory Mound, a collaboration with Tiger Lillies sound designer Claus Buehler, was profiled on WNYU fm, the legendary indie radio of NYU. Spotify – Stefan Sullivan.
As writer/journalist, he has authored essays on politics and pop culture, and a critically-acclaimed memoir set in Siberian oil country (Aufbau/Berlin, 2002).

Adina Thomas

Soprano Adina Thomas is passionate about a wide variety of music, from opera to musical theatre to jazz and pop. Some of her favorite roles include Adele in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida, Susanna in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, and Johanna and the Beggar Woman in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. She holds a bachelor’s in music from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s in music from Appalachian State University. She has studied in Graz and Salzburg, Austria, and is a soloist at the Universalist National Memorial Church.
She adores singing at retirement communities and has sung at several throughout the DC area, including Ring House and the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington in Rockville, MD, The Residences at Thomas Circle in Washington, DC, and Knollwood Community in DC. She considers Open Piano to be her musical family and is grateful for all the wonderful and supportive musicians she has met there.

Nick Drohan

Nick started playing piano at age five, drawn to the opportunity to wear a suit and tie for his recital. Growing up in New York, he has a solid classical background, but has also been deeply influenced by groups like Nirvana and Green Day. His current favorites are Jack's Mannequin and Hazel Scott. He has been an esteemed regular at Open PIano since our days at The Purple Patch.

Laurie Cooper

Laurie Cooper’s formative musical education began during her childhood in St. Louis, where the radio was always on and every genre was played everywhere. A longtime Washington, DC resident, she sings old school blues, 70s classics and jazz standards at Open Piano, and with Capital City Voices. As a percussionist with Los Caribbeat and More Than A Drum, she adds vocals and vocalese to the beats. In addition to performing at Wolf Trap’s Theater in the Woods, she pops up on the streets during art festivals in Washington DC, and previously sat in with the drum circle at Congo Square in New Orleans. An Africa-focused international development specialist by day, Laurie incorporates musical understandings from Accra to Zanzibar in her interpretations. What’s so great about Open Piano? “No matter who comes through, there are positive vibes and an artistic flow that appears spontaneous."

David Russell

David Russell started playing the piano at age six, but his passion for the instrument was really ignited in high school, when he first dug his teeth into Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu. Having studied classical piano at Cornell University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he is now a seasoned pianist with a diverse repertoire including classical music, ragtime, and showtunes. In recent years, he has expanded his interests to include composing, arranging, and vocal accompaniment.

Drew Kid

Drew Kid, sometimes known as French Toast Jefferson, has been studying piano for over 25 years. A Silver Spring native of Filipino-American origin, he currently teaches, composes, produces, arranges, records, scores film, and leads his own band, Klout Sitty Burd Gyang, aside from providing support to other artists. He has amassed an extensive discography of collaborations among artists nationwide and continues to conceptualize albums under his own name. Learn more at www.drewkid.com and remember that patience, gratitude, and balance are great things that activate the beauty within.

Jenny Cook

Jenny began her musical journey at the tender age of 7, when she began performing in school and community theater musicals. Although singing has always been her number one passion, she decided one day that she wanted to start accompanying herself on piano. With a year of elementary piano training, Jenny began learning songs that inspired her- and eventually started writing her own. Jenny enjoys writing songs that range from quirky and playful, to empowering and bold. Her style can best be described as pop, with some soul influence. Some of her inspirations include Alicia Keys, Freya Ridings, and Sara Bareilles. Jenny is incredibly grateful to the Open Piano family for providing inspiration, an outlet to share her art, and the chance to overcome her initial stage fright.

Sam Post

Equally at home composing for orchestra, playing Bach at the piano, or crossing over into pop, Sam Post is forging a career across styles and between genres. The Washington Post has praised his abilities at the piano ("confident, sensitive...a pianist with drive and intelligence"), the Bay Area Reporter lauded his chamber symphony ("Post has created a breathtaking musical joy ride"), and luminaries such as Renée Fleming have commended his overall musicianship (“incredibly gifted”). He has performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the San Francisco Philharmonic. To find out more or hear Sam, visit his website here.

Jerry Blasenstein

A native of Yonkers, NY, and a pianist since childhood, Jerry came to Washington in 1969 for college and worked at the U.S. Department of State for 30 years. He has sung with the Capital City Voices Jazz Choir and at various open mics and jam sessions. He appeared in musical theater productions of Les Miserables and Once Upon a Mattress. His YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/@jerryblasenstein9223/videos

Sammy Peters

Samuel Peters is a freelance pianist, composer, and singer who honed his craft in the supercharged music scene of Austin, Texas. He graduated summa cum laude from the music department at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, and dove straight into the gig life in “The live music capitol of America.” He has developed an impressive performance background; one that covers various genres, including rock and roll, indie, soul, and blues. An accomplished vocalist, he sang baritone in the chorus for Wynton Marsalis' composition, the Abyssinian Mass, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2019.

Bret Empie

Bret Empie grew up in the Washington area. He majored in physics and music at Cornell University, where he studied with Malcolm Bilson. He is a professional database programmer and amateur classical pianist. A rank amateur, he would say.

Our Website creator:

Introducing our webmastress who designed and built this website. Raised in Los Angeles and new to the District, she finds The Saloon and Open Piano to be "a breath of sweet fresh air." In her spare time she is either teaching herself how to play on a Roland keyboard, eating her next meal at whichever gas station she passes through, or sketching various trees. She plans on attending lectures at a good hobo college, whenever she is on the road again.

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