Jazz Student Part of National Septet
NOCCA is proud to share the news that current full-day Academic Studio 11th grader Melvin Nimtz, who studies Jazz Instrumental Music also at NOCCA, was selected by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz as one of seven students from across the nation to be part of the National Peer-To Peer All-Star Jazz Septet.
The members of the Septet include alto saxophonist Ebban Dorsey and tenor saxophonist Ephraim Dorsey from Baltimore; trombonist Melvin Nimtz from New Orleans; guitarist Kai Burns and pianist Joshua Wong from Los Angeles, bassist Gabriel Barnard from Miami; and drummer Lawrence Turner from Houston.
Besides playing jazz at a level that belies their years, the students will talk with their student audiences across the country about how a jazz ensemble represents a perfect democracy – individual freedom but with responsibility to the group – and the importance of finding a passion early in life, being persistent, and believing in yourself.
“NOCCA was one of the first national arts high schools to have a stand-alone Jazz program, which is only appropriate in New Orleans, led by the incredible Mr. Ellis Marsalis who we lost last year,” shared NOCCA President | CEO Kyle Wedberg. “As the Vice-President of the national Art Schools Network it is thrilling to see participants from partner arts high schools from coast to coast that are supporting the next generation of students and performers in the unique American art form that is Jazz.”
Part of the celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), The All-Star Jazz Septet will be featured in a virtual jazz informance on April 13. Hosted by U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona and 14-time GRAMMY Award-winning jazz legend Herbie Hancock, the ‘informance’ – a combination of performance with educational information.
Free and open to the public, the jazz informance webinar will be held via Zoom on April 13, beginning at 1:00 pm EDT. All attendees must register prior to the event at https://hancockinstitute.org/what-is-jazz-doe-2021 to obtain a meeting number and passcode. Registration is open now. The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz has lead funding from the National Endowment of the Arts and United Airlines.
ABOUT THE HERBIE HANCOCK INSTITUTE OF JAZZ
The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is a nonprofit education organization with a mission to offer the world’s most promising young musicians college level training by internationally acclaimed jazz masters and to present public school music education programs for young people around the world. The Institute preserves, perpetuates and expands jazz as a global art form, and utilizes jazz as a means to unite people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities. All of the Institute’s programs are provided free of charge to students, schools and communities worldwide. The Institute’s programs use jazz as the medium to encourage imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image, and respect for one’s own and others’ cultural heritage. Founded in 1986 as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the organization began operating as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz in 2019 in recognition of Mr. Hancock’s commitment to the Institute since its establishment, his expert guidance as Institute Chairman, and his immense contributions to and impact on music, education and humanity. www.hancockinstitute.org.
ABOUT THE PEER-TO-PEER JAZZ EDUCATION INITIATIVE
Through the national Peer-to-Peer Jazz Education Initiative, which receives lead funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute invites outstanding music students from select public performing arts high schools across the nation to participate in weeklong peer-to-peer jazz informance tours. The young musicians gain invaluable performance experience playing as a jazz combo alongside internationally acclaimed artists while they, in turn, help educate young audiences in public schools throughout the U.S. about jazz, America’s indigenous musical art form. In so doing, they not only help develop jazz audiences for the future, but also exemplify the important American values that jazz represents: teamwork, unity with ethnic diversity, democracy, persistence, and the vital importance of really listening to one another.