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| Middle School Jazz Academy Performs Free Concert Jazz at Lincoln Center premieres the Middle School Jazz Academy class of 2007 music students, in a one-hour free showcase concert on January 27, 2007. The performance will be held in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Jazz at Lincoln Center chose 15 students from four boroughs of New York City, in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades to be a part of the second annual MSJA, a tuition-free intensive jazz instruction program that takes place throughout the school year. Each student was awarded a full scholarship, based on application, audition and parent interview. This unique program offers a course of study in instrumental performance, including a series of music lessons and broader youth development activities. Students have the opportunity to meet and learn from Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and other special guest musicians. MSJA director, Eli Yamin, said, "It's a thrill to see these kids immersed in jazz and making it their own; improvising, swinging, surprising each other with what they've learned and accomplished." MIDDLE SCHOOL JAZZ ACADEMY CLASS OF 2007 - Swiftwater Brown, trumpet, Brooklyn; Denisse Corporan, flute, Yonkers; Yerko DiFonis, piano, Brooklyn; Ariam Espinal, bass, Bronx; Joshua Everett, drums, Brooklyn;Johanna Garcia, tenor saxophone, Manhattan; Rosanna Garcia, baritone saxophone, Manhattan; Joi Henry, clarinet, Queens; Gregory Hunter, alto saxophone, Brooklyn; Keefe Martin, trumpet, Brooklyn; Janie Ou-Yang, piano, Brooklyn; Cindy Rodriguez, clarinet, Manhattan; Fred Shaykis, trumpet, Bronx; Gabriel Warshaw, drums, Manhattan; Hyemin Yi, flute, Manhattan. MIDDLE SCHOOL JAZZ ACADEMY FACULTY: Eli Yamin, Director, Piano. Eli Yamin is a pianist who performs and records with the collective Solar, Claire Daly and the Eli Yamin Orchestra, a down home swing outfit. He is an alumnus of the Illinois Jacquet Big Band and the Walter Perkins Trio and was musical director for the 10th Anniversary Tour of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies. His compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note and countless schools in New York City and beyond. Mr. Yamin has a Master's degree in music education from Lehman College, CUNY and co-founded The Jazz Drama Program, a non-profit organization using the language of jazz to tell stories relevant to children's lives. Alvin Atkinson Jr., Jazz Language Instructor; Alvin Atkinson, Jr., drummer, has been featured in concert with various artists such as Wycliffe Gordon, Houston Person, James Carter, Cecil Bridgewater and more. Mr. Atkinson performed as the house drummer for the Emeril Live television show on the Food Network, and he performed at the White House for President George W. Bush. Currently, he teaches at the Middle School Jazz Academy and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Jamie Baum, Flute; A flutist, composer and educator, Ms. Baum has taught privately since 1981. She has served in the U.S. State Department/Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassador Program, performing and giving master classes with a jazz trio in South America, and performs with the Jamie Baum Septet. Ravi Best, Ensemble Coach, Trumpet; Mr. Best, a graduate of Howard and New York Universities, has taught trumpet privately since 1996 and toured and recorded with numerous artists, including the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He also has conducted geriatric and adolescent music therapy programs. Claire Daly, Baritone Sax; Claire Daly plays baritone saxaphone all over the world. She recently toured Europe with Hamid Drake and Napoleon Maddox. She has won the Downbeat Critic's Poll "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" for the last 4 yrs. and the "05 Jazz Journalist Award" for best baritone player. Her first CD as leader "Swing Low" is in the Bill Clinton Library in Little Rock as a CD significant to him while in office. Jon Irabagon, Clarinet; Saxophonist/Clarinetist/composer Jon Irabagon studied with Dick Oatts at the Manhattan School of Music, and received his masters degree there in 2003. He then obtained an Artist Diploma at the prestigious Juilliard School, studying with Victor Goines. Mr. Irabagon has received Down Beat Student Music Awards for both performance (2004) and composition (2006) and was a participant in the 2006 Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program in Washington, D.C. Warren Smith, Percussion; A fixture on the jazz scene as a drummer and vibraphonist since the late 1940's, Mr. Smith played his first gig in New York City with Kenny Burrell at Minton's Playhouse in 1958. He has taught at SUNY Old Westbury on Long Island since 1971 and directs Chelsea Performing Arts, Studio W.I.S., a non-profit performance and rehearsal space in Manhattan. David Wong, Bass; A graduate of The Juilliard School, Mr. Wong has taught jazz clinics at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Northern Illinois University, and teaches bass privately. He has performed, among others, with the Wynton Marsalis Quartet, the Illinois Jacquet Big Band, and many others. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |