The Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation has awarded a $5,000 grant to Director of Jazz Studies Dave Stamps and Director of Fine Arts Programs Mara Klein in support of the 2019 Jazz Jamboree at Gustavus Adolphus College.
The foundation, based in Rochester, Minn., supports organizations in Southwest Minnesota concentrating on arts, healthcare, and the environment. The inaugural year of the Jazz Jamboree in 2018 brought more than one hundred top local high school jazz musicians to campus to learn from professional jazz musicians, including headliner pianist Reggie Thomas.
“What we’re trying to do is to create more opportunities for jazz education in the state,” Stamps says. “This is a non-competitive festival and the educational component has driven every decision we’ve made.”
The grant will go towards covering costs of the festival including this year’s headliner 2018 Grammy nominated jazz violinist Sara Caswell. The festival will be held March 2 and the free 8 p.m. evening performance will give community members the chance to see nationally renowned jazz musicians close to home. All masterclasses, clinics and performances are free and open to the public.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer jazz performances of this caliber at Gustavus for audiences in southern Minnesota. The inaugural Jazz Jamboree was a huge success, and I hope the community is encouraged to come out and check out this year’s event,” Klein says.
For more information, please visit gustavus.edu/music/jazz/jamboree.