Dear Jazz Friends and Emory Jazz Alliance Members,
As we enter the 2017-18 academic year at Emory, it is worthwhile to look back and see where the Emory Jazz Alliance has been and where it is going.
The Emory Jazz Alliance was created to support Emory student jazz education, both student and professional jazz performances, and community outreach.
This newsletter includes an update on each of those elements, so read on! We are also thrilled to announce that Professor Gary Motley, Director of Jazz Studies, was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
Emory student jazz education
Professor Gary Motley, Director of Jazz Studies at Emory University, has worked very hard with his jazz affiliates to provide a creative and supportive atmosphere for those Emory students interested in jazz performance. For the 2017-18 year, over 90% of the students are enrolled in individual music lessons in addition to the class training. This is a great improvement and reflects Mr. Motley’s devotion to excellence in education. This year, the Emory Jazz Alliance will use its donations for help pay for a portion of the individual music lessons through student scholarships. You can help support these scholarships by making a gift.
The Strickland Jazz Studio, through a generous naming gift and continued gifts to the Emory Jazz Alliance, is now one of the best in the country. Over the summer, dramatic improvements were made to the electronics, recording equipment, hard drives, sound shaping, and speakers used in the Studio. The new Yamaha N3 Avant Grand piano accurately reproduces musical notations written by the students and can also convert actual playing in real time to musical notations viewed over the new SmartBoard.
A second room was added to the Studio directly next door. Recording connections to the new room enable more isolated recording of vocals and individual instruments. Also, with a second room, students can practice on Tuesday leaving Thursday free for jam sessions, individual improvisation, and practice with the SmartBoard. State-of-the-art recording equipment enables the students to review their performance progress in real time: and to share their progress with their friends and family.
Performance
Emory jazz students perform on a regular basis for the public. Free performances on the Patterson Green located between the Emory Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts and Goizueta Business School will take place at 6:00 PM on April 12 and April 26, 2018.
Emory Big Band performances at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts at 8:00 PM include:
- February 10, 2018
- Emory Big Band and Emory Chamber Strings with the Gary Motley Trio (Emory Jazz Fest 2018)
- April 24, 2018
- Emory Big Band
There are several visiting artist performances of note for the 2015-2016 season. Read on to learn more about the artists.
- March 5, 2018 Emmet Cohen Jazz Trio Master class
Looking Back
During the summer of 2015, Gary Motley and four students from the Emory Jazz Studies Program traveled to Colombia, South America for 2 weeks of jazz performance. The trip was sponsored by the US Embassy and The Centro Colombo Americano in Medellin, a nonprofit organization that promotes human and social development through academic and multicultural experiences between Colombia, the US and other countries.
The trip enabled the students to improve their skills through daily performances. Professor Motley said the students performed at a very high level and were judged to the most proficient among the other groups. The Emory Jazz Alliance is proud of their achievements. You can read a full update on the trip later in the newsletter.
Students from jazz programs at local junior high and high schools are invited to participate in jazz clinics sponsored by the Emory Jazz Studies Program. Anat Cohen and the Gary Motley Trio will participate in a jazz clinic in February as a part of the 2016 Emory Jazz Fest.
The Future
Please continue your support of the Emory Jazz Alliance so that we can offer scholarship support for individual jazz lessons for Emory jazz students. Your generous donations enable improvements to the program and entice new students to experience jazz at Emory. To make a gift, visit the website here.
Your love of jazz can support the future of jazz and its performers through the jazz academic program at Emory.
Henry Siegelson