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Jazz legend Kirk Whalum performs with Stax Music Academy students in Memphis December 9,2006

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On December 9, 2006, the students of the Stax Music Academy, located adjacent to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, will take to the stage for an all-ensemble Winter Concert, performing for the first time with their new Artist in Residence, internationally acclaimed jazz man Kirk Whalum.

The concert will take place at Lausanne Collegiate School's Elder Performing Arts Center in Memphis at 7 p.m. and is free to the public.

The ensembles of the Stax Music Academy include the StreetCorner Harmonies, Premier Percussionists, Stax Music Academy Rhythm Section, and the new Soulsville Swing Band, a jazz ensemble under the tutelage of Stephen Foster, leader of the acclaimed New Orleans Jazz Ramblers, now based in Memphis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Also performing will be the organization's Soulsville Charter School's Soulsville Symphony Orchestra.

The Stax Music Academy is a 27,000-square-foot unique learning facility which uses music education as a tool to mentor primarily at-risk inner-city youth. It is intended to help boost its students' self-esteem, help improve academic scores, teach respect for oneself and others, and offer other life lessons to make these young people facilitators for positive change in the community. It offers music education, guidance and counseling, unique performance opportunities, field trips, and other opportunities the students might otherwise never have.

In July 2006, 14 Stax Music Academy students traveled to Italy on the inaugural Stax Music Academy Summer Tour Presented by FedEx, where they performed four live concerts, including opening the festivities for the Porretta Soul Festival in Porretta Terme, Italy. The Summer Tour and other elements about the academy is the subject of a PBS documentary currently in production and scheduled to air summer 2007. The students also perform regularly at Memphis Grizzlies NBA games and at other local and regional venues. They have performed for the likes of Bono, Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, and others.

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