The University of the Virgin Islands’ Reichhold Center for the Arts will host the Virgin Islands debut of The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4. The concert “An Evening with the Masters of Jazz,” is in support of United Jazz Foundation (UJF) and its music education program, Mentoring Through the Arts of Music.
“Our orchestra plays music from every stylistic period of jazz and features a soloist in every chair and 10 arrangers,” said Wynton Marsalis, the managing and artistic director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center. “As always, we incorporate education into everything we do. In most every city, we open our sound checks to students and we also host education initiatives which may include master classes, workshops and lectures.”
The concert will include a pre-concert and intermission performance by United Jazz Foundation's newly launched VI Youth Ensemble, and a special invite-only post-concert VIP cocktail reception hosted by International Capital and Management Company (ICMC). Students will also have an opportunity to attend a free master class which will take place at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, at the Reichhold Center.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center and Marsalis have been working closely with United Jazz Foundation and its President Dion Parson to increase the quality and level of music education in the territory. Over the last few years, they have collaborated with and arranged to present top-notch musicians at the West Indian Company Limited's (WICO) free monthly community concert series Jazz on the Docks and at ICMC’s free Jazz in the Park concert series.
Founded by native Virgin Islander and Grammy-winning drummer Parson, Mentoring Through the Arts of Music, has been providing music education in elementary, junior high, and high schools in the territory since 2009. The foundation also hosts free concerts for the community in partnership with WICO, ICMC, the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Resources, the University of the Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, AVIS Rental Car, Budget Rental Car, and Seaborne Airlines. The initiative recently launched the 2014-2015 VI Youth Ensemble, a program geared to hone the musical abilities of a specially selected group of the most talented high school musicians in the Virgin Islands. In 2014, in partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center, and with the VI Department of Education, UJF initiated Jazz For Young People in the Virgin Islands. The program will mirror the Jazz at Lincoln Center's interactive WeBop program, which is an early-childhood jazz education program.
“Having the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on the Virgin Islands is truly an exciting moment for us. This event will serve to help raise awareness for Mentoring Through the Arts of Music and music education on the Virgin Islands and to solidify our partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center, one of the most renowned music education and performance centers in the world,” said Nicole Parson, United Jazz Foundation's executive director/CEO. “With the orchestra coming here, people will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy the same high quality cultural entertainment and music that other communities around the globe enjoy regularly.”
“An Evening with the Masters of Jazz” is made possible by corporate event partners ICMC and WICO. Major event sponsors include, the Virgin Islands Lottery, Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, University of the Virgin Islands, and by associate sponsor Southland Gaming