Caili O’Doherty

native of Portland, Oregon, Caili O’Doherty has received national awards for jazz piano performance and composition from Downbeat Magazine as well as an ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer award.

Caili has performed with various jazz groups at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Kimmel Center (opening for pianist Martial Solal), Toronto Jazz Festival, Panama Jazz Festival (opening for the Wayne Shorter Quartet), Mt. Hood Jazz Festival (as pianist for Terrell Stafford), Portland Jazz Festival, Guinness Cork Jazz Festival in Ireland, Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, MICI International Film Festival in Mexico, Stanford Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, and UNESCO First International Jazz Day in Paris, as well as two US State Dept. supported tours to Colombia and Togo and Benin in West Africa.

In 2010, Caili was one of five female jazz pianists invited to participate in the inaugural Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Emerging Artists Workshop held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and to perform at a showcase concert at the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.

During the summers of 2015 and 2016, Caili toured the West Coast with her NYC quartet in support of her debut album, titled “Padme”, performing at the Stanford Jazz Festival, Fillmore Jazz Festival, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, and many other venues. She also performed CD release shows on the East Coast at the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival, Vermont Jazz Center, and Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, among others.

In August 2016 she embarked on a three-week duo tour in China with saxophonist, Hailey Niswanger. They performed at concert halls and theaters in Shanghai, Changsha, Nanjing, Dongying, Shenyang, Yangzhou and Dalian. In the fall of 2016, Caili collaborated with saxophonist Caroline Davis, culminating in a Midwest tour of the Davis + O’Doherty Quartet, performing at venues throughout Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

Caili attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA on a full scholarship and graduated with a degree in jazz piano performance. During her time at Berklee, she was a member of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, an intensive honors performance program headed by highly acclaimed pianist Danilo Perez. Through this program, Caili had the opportunity to work closely with some of the leading musicians in the jazz world, including Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, Dave Liebman, Adam Cruz, Terri Lyne Carrington and Danilo Perez.

Since graduating from Berklee and relocating to New York City, Caili has embarked on a career to satisfy her equal passions for composing, performing, educating, and humanitarian work. She works for the WeBop early childhood jazz education program at Jazz at Lincoln Center, performs frequently throughout the country and teaches private piano students in the New York City area.