Band Director Support Program
Underserved schools are drastically under-represented at the top band competitions in the country. In the 2019-2020 school year, only 25.6% of the schools represented at the top band festivals in the country were Title 1 schools. We at Jazz Empowers developed our band director support program to help close this achievement gap in music education.
Jazz Empowers' Band Director Support Program helps provide support to promising jazz programs at Title 1 schools. Schools that are accepted into our program will receive a $500-$1,000 grant that can be used for instruments, sheet music, and other resources needed in order to run their jazz program. Band directors will also have full access to all of Jazz Empowers curriculum resources. In addition, Jazz Empowers staff will support band directors by providing coaching sessions to help them develop as effective jazz educators.
The deadline to apply for the 2023-2024 school year is September 15th, 2023. If you have any questions please email apply@jazzempowers.org.
“Jazz Empowers has been essential in the growth of the jazz program at Celia Cruz High School. With their support, we have been able to bring in guest artists to work with the band and purchase much needed supplies. We could not have made it this far without the generous support and partnership that Jazz Empowers provides, and we are so excited to be representing the the northeast at the 2020 Essentially Ellington Finals.”
Memphis Central Jazz Band Wins 2019 Savannah Jazz Festival
We are excited to announce that Memphis Central High School, a Jazz Empowers Band Director Support School, won the 2019 Savannah Swing Central Jazz Festival in Savannah, GA. The festival is one of the most prestigious festivals in the country and bands from across the country came to compete in the 2019 festival. Congratulations to Jazz Band director Ollie Liddell and the amazing young musicians in the Memphis Central Jazz Band!!