International Jazz Day AZ Foundation Jazz & Arts Education Summit In Alamos To Be Held In March, (TBA), 2017

By Doc Jones
Published: Oct 7^th 2016 Press Release

The first IJDF Jazz & Urban Arts Education Summit in Alamos, in Sonora, Mexico, will convene during a weekend in March, 2017. Jazz and art educators in Sonora and Arizona are invited to attend, instruct, and perform at this event. Its purpose is to provide both educators and students with intensive and detailed techniques regarding jazz and urban art, via the instruction of dedicated professional professionals.

This summit is not the first of artistic collaborations between Arizona and Sonora. For the past year, International Jazz Day AZ Foundation Executive Director Wm. Doc Jones and board members have been working with Arizona musicians and artists towards the initiation of a comprehensive Jazz Studies program somewhere in Alamos Mexico. Doc Jones is also working with artist Katherine Callingham regarding the exciting possibility of developing of her Urban Art program in Alamos.

International Jazz Day AZ Foundation has also shared its events with the community of Puerto Peñasco. In April 2016, IJDF, Doc Jones, Lalo Gonzalez, and the Mayor of Puerto Peñasco, Kiko Munro, brought the First Int’l Jazz Day Festival in Rocky Point to huge crowds for a remarkable two-day event. The plan to bring more jazz programs to the area was then set in motion, with hopes to gain approval of the city and state government to create a certified Jazz Studies program at Municipal School of Music in Puerto Peñasco.

March 2017, the Int’l Jazz Day AZ Foundation will be in Alamos to experience the product of its hard work, but in order to pull off a summit like this, there are significant needs, such as underwriters to sponsor food and lodging for the participants. IJDF, 504 Multimedia, and 602 Jazz Magazine will help support some of the artist-based and teacher-based costs. IJDF will provide significant one-week extensions for two of its Senior Scholars, Doc Jones and Katherine Callingham.

The artists themselves delved aggressively into this project and made their own sacrifices. All of them being college or university professors, several submitted grants to have their travels compensated by their own universities and jazz and art programs, others were able to receive just enough money to meet the cost of the trip, and at least two artists will attend completely at their own expense. These artists display through their enthusiasm the severity with which serious jazz educators pursue musical opportunities. IJDF’s first Jazz & Arts Education Summit is part of the future wave for promoting causes related to American-based jazz music and art education, as well as those subjects’ relationships with the rest of the world. Furthermore, through this summit, ties between Arizona and Sonora will continue to strengthen. For more information, contact Doc Jones at 602-524-7998, 504tvmag@gmail.com or www.jazzdayaz.com.

OUR HISTORY

For the last five years, every April 30^th, the International Jazz Day AZ Foundation has successfully organized the Jazz AZ Festival. This day has become a signature event for the state of Arizona and is very connected to the music education community and UNESCO. IJDF books well-known jazz musicians from all over the United States, including, of course, many of its own local Arizona musicians. The festival in 2017 will be on an even grander scale than before, and the foundation calls for the help of jazz and art lovers to make this year’s festival the best yet. The Foundation also will be producing the 1^st Alamos International Jazz Day Festival.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION

We’ve always valued our commitment to music education and have shown this through various mediums. We have had musical groups give presentations in assemblies at Arizona schools for no charge, performed jazz workshops for high school jazz bands from around the state, and donated funds to local charter school music programs, such as the Academy of Excellence.

Next year, to celebrate the 6^th Annual Int’l Jazz Day, we are bringing musicians to Alamos Sonora to make it the 1^st Int’l Jazz Day in Alamos Mexico. Fortunately, the Jazz & Art Summit in March will lay framework for our efforts to present New Orleans jazz music to the Sonora area. We’ll be working with jazz educators in Alamos to develop an all-year program and to also bring our most successful concert series, “The Flavor of New Orleans,” to the area over the next 36 months.

SPONSORSHIP

As is the case with many festivals and non-profit corporations, the International Jazz Day AZ Foundation cannot cover our costs on ticket sales alone. We hope you will consider the possibilities of sponsoring our 2017 Jazz Day, sponsoring our educational programs for young musicians and artists in Alamos, or taking out an ad in either our new Alamos publication or 602az Jazz Magazine. We are a non-profit 501 C-3 organization, so your sponsorships are tax-deductible. Please feel free to get in touch with us, and we will send you a complete sponsorship package. We truly wish to partner with many more local businesses and individuals to make our programs, summits, and festivals even more successful and beneficial for all involved in the future.