Jazz For Kids: Montclair Nonprofit Announces New Partnership

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Jazz House Kids. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Trinity Church Wall Street recently announced a new collaboration this fall with Jazz House Kids, a preeminent arts education and performance organization in Montclair, NJ, to provide free, professional jazz education for children, as well as a series of free jazz concerts for the public at its historic downtown churches. Jazz House Kids, now in its 20th year, was founded by jazz vocalist Melissa Walker, and eight-time GRAMMY winner Christian McBride serves as artistic director. This JAZZ HOUSE @ Trinity collaboration reflects Trinity’s commitment to offering a wide range of musical styles and access to award-winning musicians in our public spaces, including jazz, a uniquely American art form and an important, uniting voice for our collective story and experience.

Earlier this summer, JAZZ HOUSE @ Trinity initiated programming at Trinity Youth Afterschool at Trinity Commons – Trinity’s public space in lower Manhattan - through the creation of the Trinity Youth Summer Jazz Ensemble. Two jazz ensembles studied under the direction of world-class artists, with a culminating performance at St. Paul’s Chapel on Tuesday, July 26.

The new JAZZ HOUSE @ Trinity offering at Trinity Youth Afterschool will expand access to free musical training and jazz education in small and large group ensembles; improvisation; novice programs for beginners, which will include use of a new instrument; jazz vocals and African drumming. Nationally-renowned jazz performers will serve as teaching artists, offering students in grades 6-12 a wide array of creative programming that develops musical potential, enhances leadership, social emotional learning and life skills, and strengthens academic performance. The program will be expanded to K-5 in 2023.

Trinity Youth Afterschool is a 5-day-per-week program that is free and open to all NYC youth in grades 6-12. Youth members gain access to a wide range of quality programming in addition to lunch upon arrival, a full-size gym, youth lounge, study space, and art and dance studios.

The program for the 2022-23 school year starts September 19, and interested students in grades 6-12 can learn more about the offerings at jazzhousekids.org/programs and enroll through Trinity Youth at register.trinitywallstreet.org/2022-Trinity-Youth-Jazz-House.

As part of the collaborative summer offering, daytime jazz concerts also debuted at Trinity. Guests included jazz greats like Bruce Williams, and Abel Mireles and LatiNext; and emerging talent Zoe Obadia and Claudia Abena, performing in Trinity’s historic St. Paul’s Chapel. Building upon these successes and Trinity’s “indispensable and unmissable” (The New York Times) music programming, Concerts at One will return this fall and will feature a new Jazz @ One series on Tuesdays for seven weeks starting October 11, presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE @ Trinity.

Trinity will also present a new Jazz Icons Concert Series at Trinity Church on Sundays, co-curated by Mr. McBride and Ms. Walker of Jazz House Kids. On July 10, the pioneering Steve Turre Sextet was the first artist in this series, followed by concerts planned for October 9 with an all-star trio of jazz heavyweights of Dave Holland, Kevin Eubanks and Eric Harland and December 4 with the renowned Monty Alexander Trio at 3 p.m.

“Trinity is excited to bring a new stream of musical talent into our historic sanctuaries and offer this gift of free and dynamic music concerts to our neighbors,” said the Rev. Michael Bird, Vicar of Trinity Church Wall Street. “We are grateful to our partners at Jazz House Kids for hosting award-winning educational programming for our young people and opening doors to some of the greatest musicians of our time.”

“Jazz House Kids is excited to open a NY campus in collaboration with Trinity Church,” said Melissa Walker, Founder & President of Jazz House Kids. “We will further our mission as an instrument for change - providing access, learning, career development, and community building through jazz. We are honored to commence this collaboration with renowned Trinity Church Wall Street and recognize their significant investment in jazz - this uniquely American art form born of the African-American experience and now embraced around the world.”

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