As the new Jazz Education Network President, I’ve been reflecting on this role over the past several months. As we enter this holiday season of family, friends, and thankfulness, there are so many reasons for which I am grateful.
I am beyond grateful that we all have weathered the pandemic storm, hopefully with our toughest days — editing student cell phone videos and audio files, conducting semesters on ZOOM, and ordering trumpet and trombone bell covers – are behind us. Did you join us in Dallas? Unfortunately, as President-Elect, I sat home this past January with a lousy case of COVID, missing my JEN family, Board colleagues and the world’s best hang. It was the first JEN conference I’ve missed in over a decade.
Like many other non-profit organizations, we have had more than a few challenges over the past couple years due to the pandemic…from pivoting and PPPs to earned revenue woes due to scaled down conferences and SVOGs. But, through it all, our great leadership (Thank You, Sean!) and YOU, our dedicated members, supporters and partners, helped the Jazz Education Network to become a stronger, more resilient organization.
This new chapter of our 14-year history marks an exciting time of transition and growth for JEN. Where are we heading, you may wonder?
I’m sure you’ve already experienced some of our year-round online events and webinars. As a JEN member, you can look forward to more robust online offerings and benefits, including on demand video resource library, special charts for your ensembles, and much more. With a renewed focus on organizational sustainability and growth, we are pleased to expand the JEN Team with our new Development Director, Christopher Walker. (You may have recently received an email or phone call introduction from Christopher. Please get to know him and share your JEN story.)
This month, JEN has announced the search for its first ever Executive Director. This leadership role will be instrumental in helping us better support you, our global jazz community, and fulfill our vital mission through advancement in education, performance promotion and new audience development. If you are interested in learning more about this new role, click here for more information.
Have you heard that the upcoming JEN 2023 Conference in Orlando is on track to become one of our largest conferences to date? As conference planning is in full swing, everyone’s buzzing about what’s ahead this year. If you are on the fence on whether to attend, don’t be. While our official conference hotel is almost sold out, we have another hotel location listed on our website.
Along with our numerous clinics and the performances and evening concerts. One of the newest additions to this year’s conference will be our JEN Donor Appreciation event, which is our way of saying thank you to everyone who has supported JEN with a financial gift, big or small, in recent years. As a donor please register for the event here. If you haven’t yet registered for the 2023 JEN Conference, please visit jazzednet.org today and do it! And, if you are unable to attend the conference this year, please consider purchasing an evening concert pass for Orlando area student(s) to be able to attend, or simply making a gift to JEN to help support the production of this outstanding conference. Your support of any amount will make an impact.
With all things considered, I’m overwhelmed with excitement and optimism for what’s to come for this special organization. So grateful that you, our 4000+ members, are here to help continue building a bright future for JEN and Jazz Education.
We’ll see you on the Sunny Side of the Street in Orlando, Florida this January.
– Lonnie Davis
