Val Jeanty & Berklee Institute of Jazz & Gender Justice

She will be performing with 11 musicians from around the world who represent the mission of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. Founded and directed by NEA Jazz Master, Terri Lyne Carrington, the Institute welcomes “students of all gender and sexual identities to achieve the goal of true gender diversity in the field [of jazz].” Its goal is to create “more equitable conditions for all pursuing careers in jazz in an effort to work toward a necessary and lasting cultural shift in the field” through “corrective work [that modifies] the way jazz is perceived and presented, so the future of jazz looks different than its past without rendering invisible many of the art form’s creative contributors.”

HISTORY
Beginning in 2013 the Vermont Jazz Center has presented emerging artists as part of its featured programming. In 2017 the idea of featuring younger, emerging professional performers evolved into an annual November festival. The festival now highlights two components 1) local high school and college groups who will perform during a Friday evening jazz walk (Due to Covid safety precautions, this year’s Friday portion of the event has been cancelled) in Brattleboro and 2) headliner artists who will perform and offer workshops and coaching assistance to students in an all-day Saturday event.

This event marks our fourth collaboration of artists connected to the Institute:  in May 2020 we presented the Institute’s founder Terri Lynne Carrington and her band Social Science; Linda May Han Oh, an Ensemble Director at the Institute, taught at our 2020 Summer Workshop; and we presented Kris Davis, the Institute’s Associate Program Director of Creative Development, and Hidemi Akaiwa and Camila Cortina (both students at the Institute), in our 2021 Solo Jazz Piano Festival.  Recordings of these events can be found in our FB videos.