Angélika Beener

Angélika Beener is an award-winning journalist, DJ, host, and producer. Angélika has contributed her work to Downbeat, TIDAL, The Huffington Post, NPR Music, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and National Public Radio. In addition, she has contributed liner notes to several acclaimed recording projects, including two GRAMMY®-winning albums. A journalist who writes about music and culture at the intersections of race, gender, and generation, her work in public radio has been recognized by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and The New York Association of Black Journalists.

Additionally, you can find her name attached to various notable recording projects including Droppin’ Science: Greatest Samples from the Blue Note Lab; Marcus Strickland’s People Of the Sun; and legendary bassist Ron Carter’s Dear Miles. An advocate for gender and racial equity, particularly in the arts, Angélika served as a dedicated member of the Board of Directors for Willie Mae Rock Camp, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering girls and gender-expansive youth through music education and mentorship.

In 2019, Angélika was consulting producer for the award-winning documentary Digging for Weldon Irvine, based on the unsung jazz fusion forefather. She was featured in the 2022 documentary Jackie Robinson: Get to the Bag, alongside the film’s executive producer MLB All-Star Mookie Betts, NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, WNBA all-star Candice Wiggins, MLB veteran Alex Rodriguez, and acclaimed historian Peter Dreier.

As host, Angélika has emceed the Jazz Journalist Association Awards three times. In 2021, she co-hosted Jazz Foundation of America’s “Spotlight Jazz” mini gala at City Winery with award-winning actor, producer, and activist Danny Glover.

In May of 2021, Angélika was a guest panelist for Marvin Gaye and the Legacy of What’s Going On: Christian McBride in Conversation, which included fellow panelists Janis Gaye, David Ritz, Nelson George, and Steven Reineke, presented by 92Y.

In November 2022, Angélika co-produced and directed Represent! A Night of Hip Hop, Jazz, and Spoken Word at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) with NJPAC Jazz Advisor and musical director Christian McBride. The historic program uniquely brought these artistic mediums together with an illustrious line-up including Black Thought (The Roots), Speech (Arrested Development), Councilman Dupre “Doitall” Kelly (Lords of the Underground), and legendary poets and spoken word performers Nikki Giovanni, jessica Care moore, Mayor Ras Baraka, and The Last Poets. The concert, a major highlight of the TD James Moody Jazz Festival, was also a part of City Verses, a unique joint initiative between NJPAC and Rutgers-Newark, which celebrates the rich historical connection between jazz and poetry, creates opportunities for public engagement, strengthens community ties through the arts, amplifies the authentic voices of the people of Greater Newark, and engages a new generation of poets, jazz musicians and teaching artists.

As a DJ and music curator, Angélika has performed at several notable NYC venues, including Le Poisson Rouge, Triad Theater, Madam X, Time Out Market New York, Brooklyn’s Dumbo Drop, and Ginny’s Supper Club. She was the featured DJ at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2020 Worldwide Concert for Our Culture Gala after-party and for The National Jazz Museum in Harlem Gala in 2022.

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