Annual Appeal 2022-2023

Dear Fellow Music Aficionados,

In a recent masterclass for my piano students, the legendary artist Jason Moran challenged us with the question, “Why?” He meant: in the big picture, what is the inner meaning behind the decisions we make?

Moran’s question hit home. What is the Jazz Center’s place in our community? Why is it significant that jazz music is at the center of our mission? How do our efforts affect the personal lives of those in our community and expand beyond our vision? Why is the Jazz Center important to audience members, to jam session and summer workshop participants, to youth, and to the musicians who perform here?

Now I extend that question to you: why is the Jazz Center important to you?

And the follow-up: will you please join us in sustaining our mission with a financial gift?

Educational activities are at the core of the Jazz Center’s “why.” Every aspect of our mission can be viewed as an educational experience: the learning that occurs at a concert, the growth that occurs in ensembles and classes, the future cultivated through our archives by assuring that historic concerts and masterclasses resonate for generations to come. And this education isn’t limited to purely musical concepts. Through jazz one learns about compassion, culture, listening, communication, empathy, history, the importance of lineage, and the Black experience.

I ask you to please give generously to the Jazz Center this year. Together we will continue to learn and evolve through the shared experience of world-class concerts and abundant educational resources. The Vermont Jazz Center changes lives and creates opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist. As the mother of one of our students recently wrote us:

I can’t thank you enough. [Because of the Vermont Jazz Center], he has been able to realize his passion, experience a strong sense of belonging to a community of jazz musicians, and find his niche in the world.

With gratitude to you all, thank you for being part of our thriving momentum.

In the music,
Eugene Uman, Director