Jazz @ Lincoln Center's Education Director Comes to Pittsburgh

Erika Floreska with music educators from the region. On March 3, 2010, MCG Jazz and the Arts Education Collaborative hosted the second professional development workshop on jazz for music educators at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. Thirty-three educators from around the region came together for a day of jazz pedagogy and a focus on early childhood education around jazz. Each participant received a wide variety of materials including: a cd of resource materials, jazz charts, and a preview of the jazz modules being developed by AEC and MCG Jazz. The jazz modules focus on improvisation and rhythm for early childhood education, and will become available to the general public in the coming months.
 

Erika Floreska, Director of Education at Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC), was the keynote speaker for the 2010 professional development day. Ms. Floreska oversees the production of more than twenty annual programs and resources that reach students, teachers and listeners of all ages. Ms. Floreska has been at JALC since 1997 and during her tenure has been integral to the development and production of many notable programs, including Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program, Band Director Academy, Middle School Jazz Academy, WeBop, and in June 2009 she coordinated jazz workshops hosted at the White House Jazz Studio featuring many of these programs.
 

Overall, participants were enthusiastic about the workshop citing on their evaluations that the high-quality facilitators and
Music educators from the region playing with Pittsburgh
jazz artists.musicians, along with the breadth and depth of the materials provided, enhanced their experience. One participant noted that this professional development day was one of the most valuable that he has ever attended in his 24 years of teaching.

MCG Jazz is a division of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, a subsidiary of Manchester Bidwell Corporation, a non-profit arts and learning center location on Pittsburgh's North Side. Since 1987, MCG Jazz has supported its mission to preserve, present and promote jazz through a subscription concert series, a GRAMMY Award winning non-profit record label and an educational outreach program. For more information on MCG Jazz, visit www.mcgjazz.org.
 

Check our online calendar often for upcoming professional development opportunities and go here for more information on the MCG Jazz Project. Questions about the MCG Jazz project should be directed to Dana Casto at castod@artsedcollaborative.org.