U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona joined Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock to co-host a special virtual peer-to-peer jazz informance for students and educators across the United States and around the world, highlighting the extraordinary history and legacy of jazz as a healing, uplifting art form.
The session, organized in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month 2021 and the 10th Anniversary Celebration of International Jazz Day, included virtual performances by the Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jazz Septetalong with an educational presentation by Institute Vice President of Education and Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas. Hancock and Secretary Cardona participated in a memorable 15-minute discussion on the importance of jazz as a tool for self-affirmation and self-expression.
“It takes a lot of courage to play jazz,” noted Hancock. “To not know exactly where you’re going to go, and then when that moment comes, to…jump off that cliff–that takes courage to do that. After a while, you kind of get used to that feeling of ‘it’s going to be ok,’ so it develops this spirit of being fearless. Everybody needs that.”
The April informance was offered as a free webinar in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education and with lead funding from United Airlines and the National Endowment for the Arts. The program attracted attendees from more than 30 countries, including the United States, Brazil, Finland, Indonesia, Japan and South Africa.
Washington, DC –The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education will present a virtual peer-to-peer jazz informance on April 13, featuring this year’s edition of the Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jazz Septet. Hosted by U.S. Secretary of Education Dr.Miguel Cardona and 14-time GRAMMY Award-winning jazz legend Herbie Hancock, the “informance” – a combination of performance with educational information – will be presented by seven of the country’s most gifted high school music students along with renowned jazz educator Dr. JB Dyas. The informance will not only focus on what jazz is and why it’s important to America, but also on the American values jazz represents: teamwork, unity with ethnic diversity, the correlation of hard work and goal accomplishment, perseverance, democracy, and the vital importance of really listening to one another.
Watch the April 2021 informance
“We’ve found that young people often learn about certain things better from kids their same age, and one of those is jazz,” said Hancock, Chairman of the Institute, NEA Jazz Master, and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “And when you hear how accomplished these musicians are at such a young age, you know their peers are going to listen.”
Besides playing jazz at a level that belies their years, the students will talk with their student audiences across the country about how a jazz ensemble represents a perfect democracy – individual freedom but with responsibility to the group – and the importance of finding a passion early in life, being persistent, and believing in yourself. When young people hear this important message from kids their same age, they are often more likely to listen.
The members of the septet selected nationwide include alto saxophonist Ebban Dorsey and tenor saxophonist Ephraim Dorsey from Baltimore; trombonist Melvin Nimtz from New Orleans; guitarist Kai Burns and pianist Joshua Wong from Los Angeles, bassist Gabriel Barnard from Miami; and drummer Lawrence Turner from Houston. “It has been both a joy and a challenge rehearsing and recording remotely with my fellow bandmates the past couple of months,” said Burns, who has done the lion’s share of engineering and mixing the group’s recordings. “While it’s unfortunate that we haven’t been able to actually play together in person due to the pandemic, we have all learned so much through this process – about music, technology, life, ourselves.”
“Jazz musicians have always been able to overcome problematic working conditions,” added Wong, who besides being one of the top jazz pianists for his age in the country has done all the group’s video editing. “It’s in our DNA.”
Along with national peer-to-peer tours featuring performances in high schools from coast to coast, the Institute has presented annual in-person jazz informances at the U.S. Department of Education during most of the past decade to highlight the importance of music education in our public schools. This year will be the first time it’s virtual. “Even in the worst of times, I always try to see if I can find a silver lining,” said Dyas, who will be leading the informance. “This year, because the informance is online, we’ll be able to reach thousands of students, teachers, administrators, and school boards across the country. And having Secretary Cardona and the great Herbie Hancock together to dialogue about music education and answer questions – amazing!”
Free and open to the public, the jazz informance webinar will be held via Zoom on April 13, beginning at 1:00 pm EDT. All attendees must register prior to the event to obtain a meeting number and passcode. Registration is open now. The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz has lead funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and United Airlines.
Saxophonist and Institute teaching artist Lenard Simpson recently conducted a composition workshop for students in The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Global Jazz Studies program. Simpson, a Class of 2020 graduate of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, provided illuminating explanations of the importance of composition for working jazz musicians, as well as practical pointers for developing a unique compositional voice.
Watch a few brief snippets from the session below:
As part of the Institute’s ongoing virtual education program offerings, the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is proud to connect UCLA students with some of the most innovative voices in jazz for an intimate workshop series during the 2020-21 academic year. Guest lecturers have included acclaimed saxophonist Walter Smith III, guitarist John Storie and Institute West Coast Director Daniel Seeff.
About the College Program
The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance is a tuition-free, two-year program that accepts one ensemble of musicians for each class. All of the students receive full scholarships, as well as stipends to cover their monthly living expenses. The students study both individually and as a small group, receiving personal mentoring, ensemble coaching, and lectures on the jazz tradition. They are encouraged to experiment in expanding jazz in new directions through their compositions and performances. The program is in residence at the prestigious UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.
Event registration for the worldwide 10th Anniversary celebration of International Jazz Day opened on January 6, with organizers across the globe invited to add their programming to the official calendar.
Registration at jazzday.com/register is free and open to all who plan to celebrate International Jazz Day on April 30, 2021.
Due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, the Institute encourages organizers to follow all relevant public health directives when planning, promoting and executing their events, and to present virtual/socially-distanced programming where necessary.
Each year, a variety of International Jazz Day programming is curated on and around April 30 by a massive global network of organizers and partners in more than 190 countries. The event size and format is completely up to the organizer, with creativity encouraged. Previously registered events run the gamut from performance-based presentations to community service initiatives, and have included:
Concerts
Jam sessions
Charity fundraisers
Art and photo exhibitions
Book and poetry readings
Academic conferences
Workshops and master classes
Visits to hospitals, detention centers and elder care homes
Radio and television broadcasts
Social media tributes
Album-release parties
Public discussions and debates
Special learning units for elementary, middle and high school students
Assembly programs
Jazz scavenger hunts
Jazz-inspired painting and drawing classes
Multi-day festivals
…and other events.
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic precipitated the first-ever virtual celebration of International Jazz Day, with a spectacular Virtual Global Concert receiving over 10 million views. Organizers from every corner of the globe submitted hundreds of socially-distanced tributes in honor of Jazz Day’s positive message. To promote student inclusion, the Institute presented a series of virtual education programs on Facebook Live in all six UN languages.
The 2021 celebration will mark International Jazz Day’s 10th Anniversary. While formal plans to celebrate the milestone are still being developed, organizers are encouraged to utilize the official hashtag, #JazzDay10, when promoting their plans for April 30 on the web and social media. Further details, including information on the 2021 All-Star Global Concert, will be announced early in the new year.
International Jazz Day is the world’s largest celebration of jazz as a force for peace, intercultural dialogue and international cooperation. The Institute is the primary nonprofit partner charged with coordinating the global program on behalf of the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
UPDATE: Thanks to a generous contribution from a member of the Institute’s Board of Trustees, the first $50,000 in gifts received for Giving Tuesday will be matched. Make your gift count double today!
As 2020 draws to a close, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution in honor of Giving Tuesday (December 1, 2020). Your gift will help the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz provide life-changing jazz education opportunities for students in need across the United States and around the world.
For more than three decades, the Institute has offered all of its public school-based educational and outreach initiatives entirely free of charge to students, teachers, schools, families and communities. The Institute makes a special effort to serve students from at-risk and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
“I saw my kids grow musically and emotionally through the Hancock Institute’s Jazz in the Classroom program. My son was able to take the skills he learned in your program and win scholarships and participate in the Southern California Schools Honor Band and in the Hancock Institute/Los Angeles Unified School District All-City Jazz Band. His strength in music flourished as did his confidence as a performer. I am seeing this in my daughter as well and am extremely proud!”
Parent of current and former Jazz in the Classroom students
Institute students learn the discipline and focus they need to succeed in school and beyond, with 100% of participants in our Jazz in the Classroomand National Performing Arts High Schoolsinitiatives graduating from high school and more than 90% going on to college.
Learning and performing jazz does far more than increase students’ technical knowledge; it fosters self-confidence and emotional growth. This is true for students like one recent alumnus of the Herbie Hancock Institute/LAUSD Beyond the Bell All-City Jazz Band in Los Angeles. He notes, “There’s not a day that goes by where I am not using some of the many skills I’ve learned from you. I thank you for all the knowledge, opportunities, gigs, and patience in developing my gift.”
Institute programs also help support band teachers and music educators by providing acclaimed guest teaching artists and advanced teaching methodologies all year long, completely free of charge. This work prompted one jazz instructor to write, “No other organization provides us with the kind of support like the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. The Institute has done more for our students than any other organization.”
Institute Chairman and 14-time Grammy and Oscar-winning pianist, composer and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue Herbie Hancock will take part in a virtual discussion to explore the question “What Is Hope?” on Monday, Nov. 2 as part of the 10 Questions interdisciplinary course and public event series conducted by the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.
Hancock, a professor at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, will be joined by award-winning author, screenwriter and producer Tananarive Due, who is also a lecturer in UCLA’s Department of African American Studies, as well as Ramesh Srinivasan, a professor in UCLA’s Department of Information Studies and director of the UC Digital Cultures Lab. The conversation will be led by Victoria Marks, associate dean of academic affairs of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture and professor in the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance.
The election eve discussion, which is free to watch with registration, is the second event in the 2020 installment of 10 Questions, an annual series that invites the public to join UCLA students in the virtual classroom to engage in vibrant conversation alongside leading faculty and distinguished alumni from across the university. This year’s series, 10 Questions: Reckoning, addresses the most urgent set of questions yet – COVID-19, the climate crisis, social and political turmoil unlike anything we have seen in a generation–and, of course, a presidential election.
Register today to watch the discussion on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020 at 7 pm PST.
The Institute is continuing its virtual jazz education programming in the 2020-2021 school year to support public school students across America. As schools restart instruction amid the ongoing pandemic, core programs such as Jazz in the Classroomand the National Performing Arts High Schoolsinitiative are being offered fully online to all participants. Institute teaching artists have begun regular daily and weekly after-school sessions with student musicians in Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Plano (Texas), San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. As always, the Institute offers all of its programming entirely free of charge to participating students, teachers, schools and communities.
The Institute is continuing its Jazz in the Classroom program virtually, including in 10 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
As part of the Institute’s educational efforts in Los Angeles, 10 middle and high school band programs are participating in Jazz in the Classroom. Virtual sessions focus on music theory, ear training, tune learning and other vital skills, as well as serving as a fun, collaborative way for students to spend time with their peers. With the 2020-2021 school year program, the Institute is proud to mark more than 20 years of collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District and Beyond the Bell Branch Music and Entertainment Education.
Highlights from the Institute’s 2020 Virtual Spring Concert for the Los Angeles Jazz in the Classroom program.
The National Performing Arts High Schools program is giving students from public performing arts programs throughout the United States the opportunity to deepen their understanding of advanced jazz concepts, even while socially distancing. Led by Dr. JB Dyas, the Institute’s Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development, National Performing Arts High Schools provides weekly 1-2 hour virtual seminars on everything from chord voicings to transposition. Since many students in the program hope to go on to careers in the arts, the sessions are also geared toward allowing students to build relationships with other promising young musicians who are hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles away.
The culminating 2020 BeBop to Hip-Hop virtual showcase was viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube and Facebook.
These and the Institute’s additional 2020-2021 school year programs build on the momentum from the summer months, when the Institute rapidly deployed distance learning initiatives to keep thousands of students engaged while self-isolating and socially distancing. These were an enormous success, with offerings like BeBop to Hip-Hopand Jazz in Americareaching young learners across the United States and in over 40 countries worldwide. The culminating virtual showcase for BeBop to Hip-Hop, which was streamed live on Facebook and YouTube, featured original music videos by the program’s student creators and reached more than two million viewers globally.
As part of this summer’s free virtual BeBop to Hip-Hop program, offered in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a hundred students from across the country and around the world collaborated virtually on original projects over the course of 10-weeks while taking part in regular online masterclasses. Watch the culminating presentation featuring debut performances, artist shoutouts, session highlights and much more on Saturday, September 19 beginning at 2 pm PT / 5 pm ET:
Aspiring producers, musicians and rappers created new music with guidance from renowned hip-hop artists and producers DJ Khalil, Hi-Tek, Imani of the Pharcyde, DJ Spark, Tariq Beats, Mike & Keys, Nikki Grier and Antman Wonder, along with world-class jazz musicians Terri Lyne Carrington and Gerald Clayton.
The Institute’s BeBop to Hip-Hop online summer program was offered at no cost to participants and made possible by support from AT&T.
Renowned jazz drummer, composer, bandleader and educator Terri Lyne Carrington will serve as guest artist for the July 16 installment of the Institute’s BeBop to Hip-Hop online summer program. Carrington will bring to bear her unparalleled experience bridging jazz and numerous other genres, including hip-hop, providing constructive feedback on students’ original musical creations and sharing her insight from more than four decades as a leading professional musician.
Since the program kicked off on June 25, participants have learned from some of the most recognizable names in hip-hop production, including DJ Khalil, Mike and Keys and Imani of the Pharcyde, to name a few. Students, representing a range of talents and interests from jazz drumming to rapping to production, have already begun collaborating on projects with their peers from across the United States.
The Institute’s ongoing BeBop to Hip-Hop online summer program is provided at no cost to participants for up to 100 students across the country. Aspiring producers, musicians and rappers create music with guidance from renowned music industry professionals, and expand their network by working virtually with other promising young students. The application is still open for observers to join the weekly virtual sessions and participate in the Q&A component.Click here to apply or email dseeff@hancockinstitute.org.
To date, Carrington has performed on over 100 recordings and has worked extensively with luminaries such as Al Jarreau, Stan Getz, Woody Shaw, Clark Terry, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, James Moody, the Yellowjackets, Esperanza Spalding, and many more. A three-time GRAMMY Award winner, she received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music and currently serves as Founder and Artistic Director for the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
In 2019, Carrington was named a Doris Duke Artist, a prestigious acknowledgment recognizing her past and ongoing contributions to jazz music. Her current band project, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science (a collaboration with Aaron Parks and Matthew Stevens), released their debut album, Waiting Game, in November 2019 on Motema Music. Carrington, who recently topped three categories in the 2020 DownBeat Critics Poll, is the first female instrumentalist to win the poll’s Jazz Artist of the Year category.
