Organization: Jazz at the Ballroom Inc
Mission: Jazz at the Ballroom is a 501c(3) organization committed to keeping classic jazz alive by sharing this extraordinary American art form with the greater public and providing audiences with one-of-a-kind experiences. Partnering with the world's most talented jazz musicians in intimate and elegant settings, we focus on the Great American Songbook, the unforgettable jazz standards audiences recognize and welcome.Beyond our Ballroom Series performances, we share this music with our schools and communities, working year-round to introduce, teach and explore jazz through workshops, special events, and public concerts.
Activities: 2019 was our biggest year to date in terms of the work weve done and the support weve received. In autumn 2019, we turned two years old and are very proud of what weve managed to accomplish.Highlights and Milestones Completed the first year of our Scholarship Program with applicants from over 17 schools. The three winners received $1500 each to use for their music education, and the music departments at their respective schools also were awarded $1000. As part of the scholarship prize, the three winners came in April to perform with four professional jazz musicians at our concert in the Ballroom. Hosted a benefit concert to raise money for our Scholarship Program and nonprofit work. We raised over $50,000. The impact of this money is immense because of the focused nature of its distribution to schools and patient-care facilities. Employed 20+ students to perform concerts prior to each show, allowing high school musicians to get experience playing for live audiencesBuilt an exciting relationship with the senior living community, ATRIA in Foster City. The residents and staff have enjoyed what appears close to a concert per month. We also continued concerts at three other senior living centers and nursing homes.Began presenting live music at hospitalsnotably, Lucille Packard Childrens Hospital and Mills Peninsula. This included concerts on Christmas Eve and Christmas DayPresented concerts, workshops, and assemblies at public schools in San Francisco and Oakland.Continued our used-instrument program, where we collected unused instruments from around the Bay Area and donated them to public schools that needed themAs our goal has always been to increase our number of shows available outside our home base of the Ballroom, we had 16 shows in new locations open to the community, from the San Diego area up through Napa Valley. As with all our shows, students were hired to play prior to the formal concert and local music students were given seats to shows at no cost.The preceding included a one-week tour with the acclaimed Freddy Cole (the brother of the great Nat King Cole and an award-winning, noteworthy musician in his own right). Sadly, Freddy Cole passed away in early 2020. We are honored that we were able to present his last big west coast tour and share his music with so many people.Received corporate underwriting, sponsorships, and grants from Piedmont Pianos, Taube Philanthropies, Oceano Wines, Dylan Hotel, and several private family foundations.Sold out every show in our seasonPerformed at, and sold out, our first show at the San Francisco War Memorial Taube Atrium in OctoberGrew our Board to seven membersEmployed 75+ musicians Contributed $6000 to Living Jazz (summer camp scholarships for needy students)
NTEE category: Arts, Culture & Humanities
Secondary category: Education