Mark your calendars – March 10, 2018 will be the first installation of Jazz Girls Day in Indianapolis at the Central Library, thanks to an Individual Artist Grant by the Indiana Arts Commission awarded to yours truly. So what is Jazz Girls Day and why should you celebrate with us?
Here is how the initiators of Jazz Girls Day define it (Jessica Jones, Rebeca Mauleon, Sarah Cline):
JazzGirls Day is an event specifically designed to invite girls and young women into the world of jazz. It includes games, clinics, jam sessions, performances, and panel discussions to help give girls a break from the male dominate jazz world they encounter on all other days. The whole point is to provide role models and a safe space so that girls can consider taking up jazz, and specifically, jazz improvisation.
It has been presented for the past three years at SF Jazz in Berkeley, CA and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Pre-college female jazz students, age 10-18, participate in panel discussions and clinics and perform together in small combos in a safe environment tutored by leading female professionals. Why do we need Jazz Girls Day? Because participation in the art form is still in the single digits with minimal role models, for example none of the full-time instrumental jazz faculty at all Indiana colleges is female – that’s 0 role models and 0 jobs. Berkley High School reports that female participation in their jazz program has doubled since Jazz Girls Day has been initiated, it works!
Help us celebrate and bring similar change to Indiana by
- attending the concert on March 10 at the Indianapolis Central Library
- encouraging any female young jazz player to attend
- sponsoring a clinician and/or refreshments or recommend possible collaborators – send me an email at mherzig at indiana dot edu for further info on how to get involved
See you March 10!
Monika