Rocco Landesman, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, today announced that the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra (SJO) has been approved for a grant of $10,000 to support the orchestra’s concert program for 2011.
SJO is one of 1,057 not-for-profit organizations recommended for a grant as part of the federal agency’s first round of fiscal year 2011 grants. In total, the Arts Endowment will distribute $26.68 million to support projects nationwide.
An independent agency of the federal government, the National Endowment for the Arts advances artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman said, “I continue to be impressed with the creative, innovative, and excellent projects brought forward by arts organizations across the country. Our grantees are not only furthering their art forms but also enhancing their neighborhoods by making them more vibrant, livable, and fun.â€
“We are honored by this award and look forward to being able to continue to present educational free family concerts that perpetuate the uniquely American genre of symphonic jazz,†says Mitch Glickman, Co-Music Director of the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra.
The first of the orchestra’s concert program will be a free family concert in conjunction with UCLA Live’s Design for Sharing community outreach program that will take place at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Westwood in the fall. The SJO concert program is geared to reaching young people and their families who have never experienced the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, let alone any kind of jazz or classical concert. The Family Concert also ties into the orchestra’s growing “Music in the Schools†program which now serves nearly 1,000 students each year, most from Title 1 schools.
The Symphonic Jazz Orchestra’s mission is to commission symphonic jazz compositions, a musical genre that blends the American language of jazz with European orchestral traditions; perform commissioned works in concerts throughout Southern California; record its commissioned works for an international audience; and inspire the next generation of listeners through its Community Outreach Program and specially designed free Family and Educational Concerts.
