Detroit Symphony Hosts Jazz Symposium

The forum is part of Marsalis' week-long DSO educational residency, during which time he will also lead master classes for music students at the Detroit School of Arts.

The DSO Jazz Symposium, which is free and open to the public, will discuss critical issues relating to the present status and future growth of America's indigenous art form. In addition to Marsalis, the panel will include: Gerri Allen, multiple award-winning jazz pianist and Associate Professor of Jazz Piano & Improvisation Studies at the University of Michigan; Dr. John Edward Hasse, Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, and founder of Jazz Appreciation Month, launched nationally in April 2002; A.B. Spellman, Jr., author, poet, critic and lecturer who worked for 30 years at the National Endowment for the Arts where his commitment and service to jazz motivated the NEA to name an award after him (the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy); Al Pryor, Vice President for Artists and Repertoire for Mack Avenue Records, the Detroit-based jazz label; and Rodney Whitaker, the celebrated jazz bassist and Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University and Music Director of the DSO's Civic Jazz Youth Ensembles.

The Symposium will be moderated by Mark Stryker, classical and jazz critic for The Detroit Free Press who has won many national awards including the ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards in 2004 and 2005 for music writing and criticism (the 2004 award was for a profile of jazz bassist Ron Carter).

"Jazz is a critically important part of DSO history, ever since the 1940s when Orchestra Hall was the Paradise Theater," said Anne Parsons, DSO President and Executive Director. "It is also a huge part of what makes Detroit such a great music city. We feel it is important to take an in-depth look at the state of jazz in our culture with some of the finest experts in the field. In Branford Marsalis, we not only have one of the world's greatest jazz artists, but one of the genre's most committed jazz educators and advocates. Our hope is that this symposium will help clarify the challenges and opportunities in jazz today, which will help the DSO, as well as music educators, the media and the public, take the steps necessary to insure that jazz continues to flourish in Detroit."

Among the topics that the panel will discuss are "The Role of Education in Preserving the Future of Jazz;" "Exploring Race and Culture in the Development of Jazz;" and "Using Media and Technology to Impact the Future of Jazz." In addition to the Symposium Panel, a wide array of VIP guests are expected to attend, including jazz journalists, educators and radio hosts, all of whom will be invited to submit questions to the panel. Prior to the discussion, the panel and audience will be entertained by members of the DSO's talented Civic Jazz Youth Ensembles.

This inaugural DSO Jazz Symposium is made possible thanks to the generosity of Fred and Barbara Erb of Bloomfield Hills, whose gift to the DSO established the Erb Jazz Chair in 2002. Since its inception, the Erb Jazz Chair has been occupied by Marcus Belgrave, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea and now Marsalis, all of whom have performed in multiple concerts at The Max and participated in educational residencies. Fred A. Erb, former Chairman and CEO of Edgemere Enterprises, formerly Erb Lumber, Inc., is a prominent philanthropist in the Detroit community and a long time supporter of jazz and jazz radio. -- www.detroitsymphony.com