16th Annual Graded Jazz Festival in São Paulo Has Roots in Monterey
Monterey, Calif; February 7, 2017; Monterey Jazz Festival Education Director and saxophonist Paul Contos, along will MJF traveling clinicians Peck Allmond (trumpet) and Robynn Amy (trombone) will travel to Sao Paulo, Brazil from February 5-12, 2017 to teach, conduct clinics and masterclasses, and perform a final concert with participating students at the Graded School, the American School of São Paulo.
The Graded Jazz Festival, conceived by celebrated former Monterey High School Music Director Robbie Stange in 2001, has continued a 16-year engagement with jazz students in Brazil and Clinicians from the Monterey Jazz Festival. You can read more about Robbie on the new Monterey Jazz Festival blog.
Approximately 75 middle and high school students from South American communities including Lima, Peru; La Paz, Bolivia; Caracas, Venezuela; Brasilia, Brazil, and other locations will be selected by leading local music educators to travel to São Paulo for a cultural and musical exchange, facilitated by Stange, Contos, and the MJF Clinicians. The program has been an annual trip for Contos since the early 2000s, and is based on MJF’s Traveling Clinicians Program, now called Monterey Jazz Festival in the Schools.
Founded in 1983, the Clinicians Program has proved to be an easily scalable program and has been a replicated by education institutions around the world by utilizing local musicians to teach young students the art of jazz, human interaction, leadership, responsibility, discipline, and democracy within a group setting. These programs also engage the local residents, businesses and government entities by building a performing arts infrastructure that all members of the community can enjoy.
“We look forward to once again bring MJF educational resources and mentoring to students in Brazil and elsewhere from South America to the Graded School in São Paulo,” said Paul Contos. “The students are some of the most attentive and inquisitive young people we have worked with, and the Brazilian audiences, among the most gracious and heartwarming anywhere, are absolutely receptive to the work we are doing, bringing America’s gift to the world – jazz!”
The Graded School, founded in 1920 by the American Chamber of Commerce, is a private, co-educational, non-sectarian, nonprofit day school from Pre-Primary to Grade 12 with over 500 students. Since 2000, the Graded Jazz Festival has been held at the Lemann-Tully Arts Center, and had welcomed the MJF Clinicians and music students from across South America.
Since the 1970s, Paul Contos has been involved in jazz performance and education in the Monterey and San Francisco bay areas, and internationally. He has mentored and taught an impressive roster of musicians through his distinguished work for the Monterey Jazz Festival’s jazz education programs as saxophone clinician, director of the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, and Monterey County High School All-Stars. He has been an essential part of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s jazz education programs since 1984, and is active as a saxophone clinician, educator, and performer at various educational festivals, clinics, concerts, and workshops in the U.S., Japan, and Brazil.
Contos, a current faculty member at UC Santa Cruz, has additionally taught at Monterey Peninsula College, and, for 12 years, at Cal State University Monterey Bay, where he developed the curriculum and pedagogy for the Music Recording/Technology Concentration. A longtime Monterey Peninsula resident, Contos was recently honored by the Arts Council for Monterey County as a Champion Arts Educator in 2015.
About Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates the legacy of jazz, expands its boundaries, and provides opportunities to experience jazz through the creative production of performances and educational programs.
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For more information, high-resolution pictures and interview opportunities please contact:
Timothy Orr, Marketing Associate
Monterey Jazz Festival
Direct Line: 831.646.8670
Monterey Office: 831.373.3366
timorr@montereyjazzfestival.org
www.montereyjazzfestival.org
MJF Partners include: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Scheid Family Wines, Gilead Sciences, Yamaha Drums, Yamaha Pianos, NEA Artworks, North Coast Brewing Company, Inns of Monterey, Alaska Airlines, Taylor Farms, The Jazz Cruise, KSBW/Central Coast ABC, DownBeat, Jazziz, Monterey-Salinas Transit, San Francisco Chronicle, Cal Humanities, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Macy’s, Monterey Bay Aquarium, JazzTimes, Alvarez Technology Group, AT&T, City of Monterey, LÄRABAR, SmoothJazzGlobal.com, Mission Linen Supply, KAZU 90.3FM, Monterey County Herald, Remo, and Tesla.
Community Partners include: Hartnell College, Monterey Bay Veterans, Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey Pines Golf Course, Monterey Regional Waste Management District, Monterey Rotary, and The Offset Project.