Mellon Jazz Continues Community Involvement/Educational Outreach Through Sponsorship of 2004 Villanova Jazz Festival
25 March 2004 - 5:38AM
PR Newswire (US)
Mellon Jazz Continues Community Involvement/Educational Outreach
Through Sponsorship of 2004 Villanova Jazz Festival - Mellon also
sponsoring 14 concerts during 2004-2005 Kimmel Center Presents
series - PHILADELPHIA, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Mellon Financial
Corporation today announced that it will serve as the presenting
sponsor of the week-long Villanova Jazz Festival that begins on
Sunday, March 28, and also will continue its partnership with The
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, with 14 concerts scheduled
for the recently-announced 2004-05 season. "Mellon's 19th year of
support for jazz in Philadelphia will truly be a year-round
experience," said Paul Kochis, chairman of Mellon Mid-Atlantic and
senior executive in the Philadelphia area. "Our programming for
2004 Mellon Jazz not only builds on our affiliation with 'Kimmel
Center Presents' by offering exciting concerts with world-class
performers, but also establishes a relationship with the Villanova
Jazz Festival to continue our long-standing commitment to jazz
education," said Paul Kochis, chairman of Mellon Mid- Atlantic and
senior executive in the Philadelphia area. "This approach
strengthens the connection between jazz and the other components of
Mellon's community affairs programs in our region." The Villanova
Jazz Festival, now in its 23rd year, includes an exciting line-up
of high school, college and professional jazz musicians. The
educational component of this year's Festival, featuring Grammy
Award-winner Nestor Torres, includes two community outreach
programs for inner-city music students from the School District of
Philadelphia. Students will receive instruction on the technical
aspects of playing, music theory, phrasing and tone development.
Torres and his band highlight the festival with a ticketed feature
performance at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 3 in Connelly Center's
Villanova Room. Since his initial release in 1989, this jazz
flautist has been captivating audiences with his sensual mix of
Latin, jazz and pop sounds. Born in Puerto Rico in 1957, Torres
started flute lessons at age 12 and after his family moved to New
York City, he went on to study both jazz and classical music at the
Mannes School of Music in New York and the New England Conservatory
of Music in Boston. In 2001, he captured a Latin Grammy for "This
Side of Paradise." Torres has just released "Sin Palabras (Without
Words)," which features a number of talented producers. The
Villanova Jazz Festival kicks off at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 28
with an invitational high school band competition, featuring
schools from four states. A listing of all festival events can be
found at the end of this release. Information also is available by
calling (610) 519-7214 or on the Internet at
www21.homepage.villanova.edu/brian.bardi/jazzfest/home.htm . 2004
Mellon Jazz will present 14 sponsored concerts during The Kimmel
Center's 2004-2005 season. This includes six "Mellon Jazz Fridays"
events, featuring the saxophone in a variety of settings, and five
"Mellon Jazz Up Close: Take the Col'train" programs, which pay
tribute to composer, saxophonist and adopted son of Philadelphia,
John Coltrane. Mellon's jazz-related activities in Philadelphia
also will include the presentation of the 2004 Mellon Jazz
Community Award. The 2003 recipient, Tony Williams, was recognized
for his dedicated efforts in jazz education and ensuring that
Philadelphia's tradition of jazz excellence gets passed along to
future generations. Students from the Mount Airy Cultural Center
(MACC), which Williams founded as a means to preserve jazz as a
uniquely American art form, are participating in the community
outreach segment of the Villanova Jazz Festival. The 2004 Mellon
Jazz Community awardee will be announced later this spring. More
information on 2004 Mellon Jazz is available on the Internet at
http://www.mellon.com/jazz . Mellon Financial Corporation is a
global financial services company. Headquartered in Pittsburgh,
Mellon is one of the world's leading providers of financial
services for institutions, corporations and high net worth
individuals, providing institutional asset management, mutual
funds, private wealth management, asset servicing, human resources
and investor solutions, and treasury services. Mellon has
approximately $3.5 trillion in assets under management,
administration or custody, including $657 billion under management.
Its asset management companies include The Dreyfus Corporation and
U.K.-based Newton Investment Management Limited. News and other
information about Mellon is available at http://www.mellon.com/ .
Mellon Jazz Presents the 2004 Villanova Jazz Festival (Events are
free unless noted) Sunday, March 28 at 11 a.m. - St. Mary's Hall
Chapel Invitational High School Band Competition Scheduled
participants are from Norwalk in Connecticut; Cherry Hill East,
Overbrook and Southern Regional in New Jersey; Mamaroneck in New
York; and Bensalem, Lower Merion and North Penn in Pennsylvania.
Monday, March 29 through Friday, April 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. -
Belle Aire Terrace in Connelly Center "Jazz at Noon" each weekday,
featuring students from Philadelphia's University of the Arts
Wednesday, March 31 at 7:30p.m. - Connelly Center Cinema Lecture on
the Development of Latin Jazz, including a screening of The Mambo
Kings" Wednesday, March 31 at 8:30 p.m. - St. Mary's Hall Chapel
Villanova University Jazz Ensemble and Guests Friday, April 2 at 2
p.m. - Grover Washington Jr. Middle School (B Street and Olney
Avenue) Inner-city workshop and master class with Nestor Torres for
public school music students Friday, April 2 from 7-11 p.m. - Belle
Aire Terrace in Connelly Center Intercollegiate Combo Competition
Scheduled participants are from Ashland University, Norfolk State
University, Temple University and Western Connecticut State
Saturday, April 3 at 10:30 a.m. - St. Mary's Hall Chapel Workshop
and master classwith Nestor Torres for Mount Airy Cultural Center's
jazz ensemble Saturday, April 3 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Villanova
Room in Connelly Center Intercollegiate Jazz Band Competition
Scheduled participants are from Ashland University, Norfolk State
University, Montclair State University, Temple University and
Western Connecticut State Saturday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. -
Villanova Room in Connelly Center Feature ticketed performance with
flutist Nestor Torres and his band Tickets are $20, $15 and $10
DATASOURCE: Mellon Financial Corporation CONTACT: Ron Gruendl,
Corporate Affairs of Mellon Financial Corporation, +1-412-234-7157,
or Web site: http://www.mellon.com/ http://www.mellon.com/jazz
http://www21.homepage.villanova.edu/brian.bardi/jazzfest/home.htm
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