 As
you are all aware, our economy has caused
difficult times, which are reflected in
decreasing jazz and arts programs in our
schools and community. Now, more than ever,
jazz and this organization depend on the
support of individuals like you who have
the passion for this music and the capacity
to support it.
Despite
these challenges, we intend to create a
new standard in the Arizona jazz community,
and to lead the way in establishing standards
for awareness, collaboration, education,
scholarship and professionalism in the jazz
community.
The
Jazz in AZ founders' original purpose of
this organization was “building a
jazz community in the desert.” We
are now taking this to a level that they
could not have imagined, thanks to technology,
the Internet, social networking, etc. Jazz
in AZ's mission is “to support the
art of live jazz and to cultivate interest
in jazz through youth education, scholarship
opportunities and community outreach.”
Jazz in AZ is committed to champion this
mission and has been developing a new Web
Community that will be going live within
the next few months. This new online community
will be a place for like-minded jazz enthusiasts
to share ideas, collaborate on projects,
find new music, new artists, new events,
new venues and new friends.
This
new site will have an interactive directory
of musicians, teachers, jazz events, calendars
and classified ads to stimulate, engage
and connect each other in new and exciting
ways. Imagine browsing through events and
finding artists you have not heard of, and
being able to learn about them, listen to
samples of their music and find venues where
they are playing.
We
would like to welcome Steve Douglas as a
new board director and Gary Doyle, Carleen
Stinson, Duncan Stoutner, Elizabeth Taylor
and Herb Ely as associate directors on our
board. We are excited about increasing the
breadth of talent, and look forward to what
each of them will bring to the organization.
The
secretary position remains vacant and we
still are looking to fill it. If you are
interested in serving on our board of directors,
please send your resume and cover letter
addressing what you can offer to the organization
to dan.konzen@jazzinaz.org.
A
reminder: You may see our directors at events
wearing their gold/bronze name badges. This
is part of our awareness campaign, so please
approach these individuals and let them
know how we are doing; we want your comments.
This is going to be an exciting year. We
welcome your feedback, enthusiasm and continued
support to keep jazz alive in Arizona.
Until
next time, we invite and encourage you to
check out our new Website at www.jazzinaz.org,
to become a fan of Jazz in AZ on Facebook,
and to follow Jazz in AZ on Twitter.
Sincerely,
Dan Konzen
President
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