The music department held a fundraiser in the Granada Theatre to help provide students with scholarships to attend the Intensive Jazz Institute program this summer.
The event took place Thursday, March 14, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. It featured flamenco music and a performance by the Ted Nash quintet. A luncheon was served to approximately 100 guests from the community. Arlington financial advisors Laura and Larry Ragan sponsored the event.
The Intensive Jazz Institute is a new summer jazz education program held in partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center, a worldwide pre-eminent jazz organization. The program lasts for six weeks, from June 17 to July 26.
“Like the merit program at the Music Academy of the West, we’d like to now expand to have an international crowd,” said James Mooy, assistant professor and conductor of City College Symphony Orchestra and the Lunch Break Jazz Ensemble.
“Intensive Jazz Institute association with the Jazz Lincoln Center program is sure to be that: the jazz musical center of the universe.”
Money raised will go entirely to start-up costs and scholarships, which range from $2,500 to more than $25,000 and will be given based on merit.
The program’s faculty will include contemporary top jazz musicians, including Grammy-nominated composer Ted Nash.
“There’s not going be a program like this,” Nash said. “It’s six weeks. It’s intensive. The kids are going to be changed when they leave this program. Believe me, they’re going to walk out of this a different person.”
Nash is also the artistic director of the institute. He said teaching is not just a responsibility but a gift and that he wants to pass along his enthusiasm for music to next generations.
During the fundraiser, Ted Nash quintet showcased its skills and entertained the audience with spontaneous solos. Wynton Marsalis, managing and artistic director of the institute, joined the band half way through.
Maestro Nir Kabaretti, music and artistic director of Santa Barbara Symphony, said the solos can be compared to Mozart’s cadenzas. He said he admires the band members because they improvised music on stage.
“I think this community is so blessed to have these really fantastic artists,” Kabaretti said. “Not only they are great performers but they take the time and the energy to teach. I think every artist knows this: when you teach, you learn.”
Kabaretti said the main goal of the institute is not to create top musicians of the world but to give students an opportunity to listen to music and consider it a language that they use to express themselves.
“In this program, we want to mentor you,” said Winnie Swalley, executive director of the institute. “There are people who are graduating from colleges at graduate level who are not able to get jobs. … We want to share what we have with you, and we want to leave you with something to build the next level on.”
Donations can be made to City College Foundation via its website.
