Grace Kelly, a singer-songwriter, bandleader, and dynamic saxophonist, will be performing on-Island, the last stop on her 20th anniversary Summer Tour.
Kelly will take the stage at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown on Thursday, August 14 from 8 to 9:30 pm to benefit Martha’s Vineyard Nonprofit Collaborative (MVNC), a local institution that provides programming and support for nearly 130 Island nonprofit groups. The concert was organized by MVNC and the Margaret Lindsay Foundation.
“It’s a very special set that we’re performing,” Kelly said in an interview with The Times. While she’s a learned jazz musician, Kelly has evolved her style over the 20 years she’s been performing. She described her set as upbeat, exciting, and out-of-the-box. For her anniversary tour she’ll be including old and new songs — a wide range of her repertoire over an extensive musical career.
“It’s not your typical jazz set,” she said. “We love getting people up and dancing and singing, and it’s really a very joyous gathering and celebration.”
Kelly has been performing across the world since she was 12 years old, and is widely regarded as a musical prodigy, with accolades spanning from the Boston Music Awards to the International Songwriting Awards. She’s shared the stage with Grammy awardwinning artists like Jon Batiste, Questlove, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phil Woods, and Harry Connick Jr., and said she places a high value on the skills of those musicians and the musical wisdom they’ve helped her to cultivate.
Now 33, she’s on the board of trustees at Berklee College of Music in Boston — the school she attended for her undergraduate degree — and she has played more than 1,500 shows in 35 different countries as a bandleader.
“It’s wild to think that it’s been 20 years, because it’s just flown by,” she said. “I feel lucky that I started at such a young age. At the time all I knew was that music is something that I loved, and I was so blessed to be able to do something that would bring a lot of joy to myself and to other people.”
Jackie Friedman, MVNC executive director, said they’re not only looking forward to the programs the concert will help to fund, but to Kelly’s involvement specifically. “We’re really excited for this,” Friedman said, “[and] to give back in such a direct way to the community.”
On average, MVNC runs about 20 to 25 programs a year open to the nonprofit community, all geared toward diversity, equity, development, and collaboration. All of their offerings are free, and are funded through benefit concerts and events like this one.
“This is a place where you really can make a difference,” Friedman said of the Vineyard. “We function so much better when we’re in connection and community.”
Kelly will have her full band with her at the Whaling Church. She said it’s been a long time since she last performed on-Island, and she’s eager to return to demonstrate her musical evolution over the years.
When Kelly first performed at a church in her hometown of Brookline, she remembered, she saw the joy on people’s faces as she played, the way they lit up, and the impact it made on her.
“I thought to myself, ‘Wow, if that’s something I could do for the rest of my life, I’m in,’” she said.
Grace Kelly will be performing at the Old Whaling Church at 8 pm on Thursday, August 14. Doors open at 7:15 pm. Tickets are available at bit.ly/MVNC_GraceKellyConcert.