skip navigation | text only | accessibility | site map
Share

[Jazz Ambassadors.]
A Welcome Message from Derek Gordon


Listen to Mr. Gordon's Message in Real Video

Requires RealPlayer

Welcome to the Kennedy Center / USIA Jazz Ambassadors Home Page. My name is Derek Gordon, Vice President for Education and Jazz Programming here at the Kennedy Center. You may use the Web Page to access various Jazz Ambassadors items, including live performances, biographical information , and tour information, as well as instructional materials for students, teachers, parents, and anyone who is interested in learning what jazz is all about.

Let me tell you a little bit about the Jazz Ambassadors program. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the United States Information Agency have collaborated to select seven jazz duos to represent American music overseas. These are our 1998 Jazz Ambassadors. From a national pool of applicants these artists have been selected, and they hail from all across the United States. They were chosen through competitive auditions held in New York City and New Orleans.

The Ambassadors will tour for four to six weeks in September and October 1998, performing under the auspices of American Embassies in countries throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, as well as Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. In addition to public concerts, the visiting Jazz Ambassadors will conduct master classes and lecture recitals for local musicians.

To kick off their tour, each pair of 1998 Jazz Ambassadors will be presented in a free concert in the evening at the Kennedy Center on our Millennium Stage, beginning Sunday, September 13th and concluding Saturday, September 19th. Concerts my be watched live, right here over the Kennedy Center's Web Page, every night at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, here in the United States.

We hope that you will enjoy these concerts, and that you will enjoy exploring the Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassadors Home Page. If you miss a live performance, sound clips of the Ambassadors will remain online, as part of the site's permanent educational resource of ten lesson plans, written for anyone interested in learning about Jazz-- America's classical music.