JazzMasters Workshop Moves Into N.Y., Calif.

After conducting nearly 400 jazz workshops in the Bay Area, JazzMasters Workshop, a music mentoring program that provides free workshops to high-school and college-age musicians, will expand its services with workshops on Long Island and in South Central L.A, where elementary school-age children will be the focus.

The Long Island workshops, at Clara H. Carlson Elementary School in Elmont,

will be organized by JazzMasters’ Northeast Regional Director, Sherman Irby,

who has performed with Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis and many others. The

Los Angeles program, which has already had a successful beginning at the

Challengers Boys & Girls Club, is being run by graduate students at USC’s Thornton School of Music under the supervision of JazzMasters founder, Bruce Forman, and Mike McKinley, Associate Director of

JazzMasters in the Monterey/Carmel area.

Part of JazzMasters’ “Music Performance Developmental Workshops,” the

Southern California program focuses on students ages 7-12. This program was

created to address the disappearing music programs at the elementary school

level, and all students in the program are urged to take part in school

music programs if and when they are offered. Students will have an opportunity to play piano, guitar, bass, drums, and percussion.

The Long Island workshops are a component of the “After School Jazz”

program. “The expansion of JazzMasters Workshop to New York, and the launch

of our new after-school program is extremely gratifying,” said Forman.

“That artists such as Sherman Irby (our new Northeast Regional Director)

endorse and want to take part in the mentoring model convinces me that

JazzMasters Workshop’s commitment to the upcoming generations will succeed

in its mission. I look forward to further expansion within the Northeast and

into other regions.”

For more information about the JazzMasters Workshop, call (831) 659-4654 or visit _blank> www.jazzmastersworkshop.org.

Originally Published December 9, 2002