PRESS RELEASE           

For Immediate Release      

July 5, 2011

 

Contact: Contemporary Arts, Inc., Barbara Grubbs, Director

410-944-2909 or bhgrubbs@verizon.net

 

National Residency Grant Awarded To Baltimore Art Nonprofit and Jazz Ensemble

 

BALTIMORE (July 5, 2011) -  Baltimore arts nonprofit Contemporary Arts Inc. and the Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra have been awarded one of only 12 prestigious 2011 residency grants given nationally by the New York City based organization Chamber Music America.  The organization’s Residency Program supports projects in which jazz, classical/contemporary, or world ensemble music is presented outside traditional performance venues and in community settings, with the goal of increasing audience appreciation and awareness of small ensemble music. The grant, awarded to Contemporary Arts Inc. and The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra after review by a panel of national musicians and music professionals, will consist of 16 clinics and concerts designed to engage youth in jazz and build greater support among the general public.

 

The residency will run from July 2011 through June 2012 in the Baltimore metro area with clinics designed to educate students about jazz, engage them in performance, and offer guidance on pursuing careers as professional musicians. The Maryland based clinics will be held at Randallstown High School in Baltimore County, Jubilee Arts in west Baltimore, the Maryland Academy of Music in Columbia, and the St. Paul School in Brooklandville, Maryland. The residency’s concerts by The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra will feature the inclusion of students who excel in the clinics and be held at several of the clinic locations as well as The Creative Alliance at the Patterson Theater, An Die Musik LIVE, and Loyola College.

 

Founded in 1997 by internationally renowned saxophonist Carl Grubbs and retired educator Barbara Harrell Grubbs, Contemporary Arts Inc. follows a mission to preserve and advance the appreciation of the jazz art form through education and performance. The nonprofit provides opportunities for education and entertainment to general audiences, musicians, and students with an annual jazz series and its summer jazz camps for youth ages 4-17.

 

The Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra is led by bass clarinetist and composer Todd Marcus whose work over recent years has explored the Middle-Eastern sounds of his Egyptian-American heritage within modern jazz. Marcus is a Hipnotic Records recording artist whose work includes international performances and collaborations with jazz artists such as Larry Willis, Don Byron, Odean Pope,

Tim Warfield, Sean Jones, Orrin Evans, Joel Frahm, Xavier Davis, Mike Formanek, and Gary Thomas.

 

The Residency Partnership Program enables this first formal collaboration between Contemporary Arts Inc. and Todd Marcus and is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund. Additional funding is provided by the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences and the Maryland State Arts Council.

 

ADDITIONAL:

Clinic & concert info available at: www.contemporaryartsinc.org  and  www.toddmarcusjazz.com

 

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