Contact:
Brittany Griffith
Director of Communications and Marketing
(434) 528-3256 x131
OVER 600 LYNCHBURG AREA MUSIC STUDENTS GAIN ACCESS TO THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA
The Academy Center of the Arts’ staff and board are proud to share that over 600 local middle and high school music students will travel to the newly restored Historic Academy of Music Theatre on Thursday, December 13, 2018, to experience the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s Big Band Holidays sound check with Wynton Marsalis.
The sound check event will begin at 4:30pm in the Historic Theatre prior to the 7:30pm performance that evening. A question and answer portion will also be held between the students and musicians on stage prior to the concluding the event.
“Youth outreach is really important to Wynton Marsalis,” said Geoffrey Kershner, Executive Director of the Academy Center of the Arts. “When arranging their visit, it was the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra who offered up this opportunity and it was something we jumped at. We loved the notion that not only would adult audiences benefit from this world-class artist but also area youth.”
The Academy Center of the Arts is dedicated to serving the community through arts and culture, and the youth of the community are a special part of that mission.
“This theatre is for our entire community. There’s no better way to fulfill that truth than by providing this once in a lifetime opportunity for area music students on the same day as one of our premier opening events,” said Kershner.
Students from E.C. Glass, Heritage, Jefferson Forest, and Brookville High School will attend. Attending middle schools include Linkhorne, Dunbar, Sandusky, Brookville, and Forest Middle. Nelson County high school and middle school will also attend the event.
“We hope that the students will be able to experience the group perform live while also having the opportunity to see what it takes to set up and sound check a group of this caliber,” said Brittany Griffith, Director of Communications .“It is really important that our local youth have the opportunity to see that their hard work and dedication to their instruments can take them as far as they hope to go. The goal is that they will see a little bit of themselves on that stage.”
Jazz at Lincoln Center and Wynton Marsalis are passionate about youth outreach and actively live out this passion through their Jazz Academy and Jazz for Young People Program, which provides students with concerts, interactive performances, and lessons.
“It is a real treat to have our students in the community experience the JLCO and Marsalis play,” said Matthew Farley, Brookville High School Ban Director. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of our students and something that they will remember for years to come.”
The Academy Center of the Arts, anchored by the historic Academy of Music Theatre, is greater Lynchburg’s multi-facility center for arts, culture, and community building, occupying 1.25 blocks on Main Street in downtown Lynchburg. The Academy Center of the Arts, previously known as the Academy of Fine Arts, was formed in 2003 from the merger of the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center and the Academy of Music Theatre, Inc. Built in 1905 and closed in 1958, the Theatre is one of the few surviving Beaux-Arts style theatres in Virginia. For more information, visit www.academycenter.org.
