The Forbes Center for the Performing Arts at James Madison University in cooperation with Millenium Diversity Initiative, Inc. will present Jazz 4 Justice featuring the JMU Jazz Ensemble directed by Dr. Chuck Dotas, the JMU Jazz Band directed by Dr. David Stringham, award-winning faculty members, and special guest conductor and Jazz 4 Justice founder Ed Weiner.
This annual concert benefits the Jazz 4 Justice Foundation, Blue Ridge Legal Services and JMU’s School of Music Scholarships. It takes place on Friday, October 7 @ 8 pm in the Forbes Center Concert Hall.
Jazz 4 Justice will feature hits from the big-band swing era, and audience members are encouraged to bring their own instruments to participate in a post-concert jam session in the Forbes Center Grand Lobby.
Weiner, an attorney in Northern Virginia and past president of Fairfax Law Foundation, started the program 15 years ago after attending a jazz recital at GMU and being “totally overwhelmed by the level of performance and totally underwhelmed by the number of audience members.” The creation of Jazz 4 Justice provided an outreach opportunity for the Fairfax Law Foundation that would serve to both promote and support GMU’s music department. The program came to JMU in 2011. “The concert is a unique partnership between education, music and law,” says Weiner, who is excited to be guest conducting at JMU in this momentous year for Jazz 4 Justice.
Millenium Diversity Initiative, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity in the legal profession and judiciary.
Blue Ridge Legal Services, Inc. (BRLS) is a nonprofit charitable law firm providing free legal assistance in civil matters of critical importance to low-income residents of the Shenandoah Valley and Roanoke Valley. The BRLS mission is committed to eliminating poverty-based inequities in the civil justice system. BRLS is dedicated to providing high-quality legal advice and representation to low-income residents, who would otherwise be unable to obtain legal help due to their poverty.
The Jazz 4 Justice Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the goal of bringing the Jazz 4 Justice program to universities in Virginia and beyond.
The JMU Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Band were founded in 1971; membership in each ensemble is determined via audition each semester. JMU jazz groups have performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Terrace Theater, Montreux International Jazz and Blues Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival and Virginia Music Educator’s Association annual convention.
The JMU Jazz Ensemble has been featured with the U.S. Navy Commodores Jazz Ensemble and U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note Jazz Ensemble and at the East Coast Jazz Festival in Rockville, Maryland. The ensemble has performed with renowned artists like Bobby McFerrin and esteemed jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan.
Jazz 4 Justice tickets are $16. For tickets, visit www.jmuforbescenter.com or call the Forbes Center Box Office at (540) 568-7000. Contact Jen Kulju, public relations coordinator at the Forbes Center, at (540) 568-4394 or by email at [email protected] for further information.
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