From March 15th through the 28th, Mr. Naaman will be in Washington, DC, participating in daily workshops and rehearsals with established jazz artists. Called the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program, this international residency and performance program is in its thirteenth year at the Kennedy Center and is under the guidance of Dr. Billy Taylor, Artistic Director.
The program identifies outstanding, emerging jazz artists across the globe and culminates in three concerts on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage which will be broadcast live over the internet at 6PM on March 24, 25, 26.
The instructors counsel participants in polishing their performances, compositions, and arrangement skills. Past instructors have included pianist Kenny Barron, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, bassist Chip Jackson and trombonist Curtis Fuller.
Betty Carter, who possessed one of the era's most extraordinary voices, was devoted to jazz education. Her Jazz Ahead Program, which she brought to the Kennedy Center in 1998, has launched the careers of several of today's stars including Cyrus Chestnut, Jason Moran and Jacky Terrasson.
Purchase College State University of New York is a major institution of higher education encompassing the liberal arts and sciences, professional training in the performing and visual arts, continuing education and liberal studies, along with the Neuberger Museum of Art and The Performing Arts Center.
