New York, NY - Jazz Alliance International (JAI), a subsidiary of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) today announced the five winners of its “Jazz Up Your Campus Contest", a creative endeavor intended to promote jazz on college campuses and celebrate the continuum of jazz. The contest was designed to engage creative, culturally aware students and demonstrate how jazz relates to today's most renowned artists.
Participants were asked to compose an essay that would articulate the significant themes of expressionism, innovation, and freedom that are incorporated in jazz to diverse students. All of the entered participants were later chosen as semifinalists and asked to express their essay points at the 33rd Annual IAJE Conference, held January 11-14 2006 in New York City. Sponsored by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, JAI and IAJE hosted these contest winners at the conference.
The five winners of Jazz Alliance International's “Jazz Up Your Campus" Contest are:
Dawn Howard, of Howard University, is currently studying Jazz Studies and was a past recipient of the 2005-6 Mordecai Wyatt Johnson Scholarship.
Ian Evans, a sophomore at Tuskegee University, is majoring in Administrative Business and has participated in a substantial number of leadership and mentoring programs.
Shayla Price, a sophomore from Southern University and A and M College, is focusing on marketing studies and was recently chosen as a Louisiana Young Hero.
Cassie Peterson, of the University of Southern California, has not only received a merit scholarship to her university, but has also recorded three award-winning jazz vocalist projects.
Renee Fabian, a sophomore at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, is a Music Education and Performance major who currently performs in ten musical ensembles.
All five winners expressed a passionate enthusiasm and interest for jazz music and performance. Recognized for their intense drive to create, demonstrate, and promote jazz studies and culture, as “Jazz Deputies", winners will receive a one year paid internship with Jazz Alliance International to help coordinate grassroots efforts on college campuses nationwide to promote jazz and widen audiences for the music.
gotjazz.info, sponsored by Jazz Alliance International (JAI), is an innovative web portal that demonstrates the relationships of jazz to a diverse range of other musical forms while promoting a variety of noteworthy and influential artists. gotjazz.info is the grassroots component of the Jazz Is Life(tm) campaign, an umbrella branding identity for the jazz industry , repositioning the music in a way to invite new audiences.
Visit www.gotjazz.info to meet the winners, discover more about jazz and take the gotjazz.info survey! Visit http://www.gotjazz.info/downloads.html to add a banner ad to YOUR website!
JAI (www.jazzai.org) is a consortium of diverse for profit and not for profit organizations which encompass the entire jazz industry and a subsidiary of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE). JAI is dedicated to expanding the audience and visibility of jazz and, through education, leadership and advocacy, seeks to raise the profile of the jazz art form and foster better working relationships within the global jazz community.
The mission of the IAJE (www.iaje.org) is to assure the continued worldwide growth and development of jazz and jazz education. As a part of that mission, the Association initiates programs that nurture and promote the understanding and appreciation of jazz and its heritage, provide leadership to educators regarding curricula and performance, assist teachers and practitioners with information and resources, and take an active part in organizing clinics, festivals and symposia at local, regional, national and international levels.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
