Quarterly Newsletter: Quarter 2, 2024!
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Welcome to our Quarterly Newsletter! 2024 has already been very exciting for Preservation Hall Foundation. Here's a quick recap for anyone who missed it:
We co-sponsored Jazz Education Network conference in New Orleans that introduced thousands of students and educators to our programs and musicians.
We hosted 75 Kids In The Hall field trips, with a record breaking 59 events in March alone.
Over 2,700 students engaged with our musicians, learned about New Orleans’ history and enjoyed songs from the city’s rich musical tradition.
Our reach to local schools & students has increased by 74% from last year.
It was wonderful to host many of our donors and friends to our Midnight Preserves benefit series during Jazzfest. For the first time, we opened the courtyards joining 726 and 730 Saint Peter Street. Some of the guest artists that joined Preservation Hall Jazz Band this year included Hozier, Dave Grohl, Ronnie Wood, Amy Helm, Jon Batiste, Tank Ball, & many more.
To learn more about our new space at 730 Saint Peter Street, where we will be expanding next year for mentorship, community building and artist residencies, click the link below!
In June, we partnered with the Historic New Orleans Collection's “Museum Lab” camp for a two-part event for students, which explored archives and musical history. Moderated by PHF Archives Manager Kelly Porter and Desiree Edwards, students were able to learn about New Orleans musical history directly from musicians Wendell Brunious and Aurelien Barnes, followed by a Kids In The Hall performance at Toulouse Theater.
Building on our partnership with the Ellis Marsalis Center of Music, PHF brought Kids In The Hall to the Ellis Marsalis Center Music Camp. It was a great way to further our mission by getting Preservation Hall musicians in front of local music students. This was the third of what we hope to be many more events together as we enter the 2025 school year!
We teamed up with KID smART to offer a workshop on Social and Emotional Learning at their 2024 Arts & Education Conference. Teachers learned strategies for integrating culture, building relationships, and planning cultural excursions. Participating educators are estimated to impact over 200,000 students!
Programs Manager Pamela Blackmon discussed the importance of local arts engagement and music education advocacy as a featured speaker on KidsmART's Arts Advocacy Panel.
The Foundation Archives team has been diligently digitizing key photographic collections, aiming to connect current Hall-musicians with long-hidden memories of their family members and mentors. This quarter marked the start a rigorous climate monitoring system, placing sensors in our off-site storage areas to protect fragile collections and gather data for future grants and upgrades. Kelly and Archives Associate Felli Maynard attended the annual American Alliance of Museums Conference in Baltimore, putting the Preservation Hall Archives on the map at the organization-of-record for best practices and innovation in museums and archives.
This quarter we published two free digital learning resources! The Brass Bandbook (Intermediate) contains six sheet music arrangements from our Brass Bandbook collection. Special thank you to Imer Santiago and his St. Cloud Middle School Jazz Ensemble for piloting the scaffold!
What started as an arts & crafts project at the Jazz Education Network Conference is now a published lesson plan for teachers to replicate in their own classrooms. The Musical Heritage Story Quilt Lesson prompts students and teachers to explore their musical heritage and collectively design a beautiful musical heritage story quilt.
We are thrilled to share that our Programs Manager, Pamela Blackmon, was named "Top Female Achiever" and made it on the cover of New Orleans Magazine. Pam's unwavering dedication, exceptional drive, and innovative mindset are truly commendable. This recognition highlights her outstanding contributions to Music Education in the New Orleans community.
“The need to reach kids where they are and bring the music and learning to them has been a crucial part of Blackmon’s focus and the growth of the Foundation....This program not only allows kids to have a new understanding and appreciation for music, but it also gives the elder musicians who live and breathe this life a chance to talk about and share it.”
- New Orleans Magazine May 2024
Finally, we're so happy to wish Foundation Musical Director Charlie Gabriel a happy 92nd birthday on July 11th!
Thank you for supporting us!
Keep up with the Foundation's day-to-day activities via our social media accounts below or check out our website.