In 2008, Berklee College of
Music and the Monterey Jazz Festival will celebrate
twelve years of partnership, which includes the
presentation of the Jimmy Lyons full-tuition
scholarship to Berklee to a gifted musician from
California; a student intern assigned to with
the Festival's staff and production team during
the summer months and through the Festival, gaining
valuable real-world training and experience;
and the always highly anticipated performance
by a group from Berklee. Each fall, the college
selects four of their finest students to perform
at Monterey in a group called the Berklee-Monterey
Quartet.
The Berklee-Monterey Quartet’s former members
have gone on to performances and recordings with
Roy Haynes, the Mingus Big Band, Prince, John
Scofield, Mariah Carey, and Steps Ahead, to name
just a few. Some of the past members include
trumpeter Christian Scott, drummers James
Williams (Gary Burton) and Kendrick
Scott (Terence Blanchard).
For MJF/51 in
2008, the Berklee
Latin Jazz All-Stars will perform at
on the stages of Monterey. A special
group of six top scholarship
students at Berklee from Puerto Rico, Israel,
the group was named 2008’s “Best
College Jazz Band” in DownBeat Magazine
under the name La Timbistica, and recently
performed as part of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s
Next Generation Festival in April 2008. The
All-Stars are led by conguero Paulo
Stagnaro and include trumpeter Niv
Toar, flutist Enrique Trinidad, pianist Abraham
Olivo, bassist Juan Maldonado,
and timbalero Marcos Lopez.
Each year, Berklee College of
Music and the Monterey Jazz Festival seek applicants
for the prestigious James L. Lyons Scholarship
at Berklee. All California music students are
encouraged to apply.
The Lyons Scholarship is
named in honor of the Monterey Jazz Festival's
late founder, James L. (Jimmy) Lyons, who started
the festival in 1958 with a jazz education program
at its core. Every year since 1995, a full-tuition
scholarship is awarded to one outstanding student
musician from California. It is a renewable award;
satisfactory academic and musical progress in
each successive year will allow the Lyons Scholars
to attend Berklee through graduation, entirely
tuition-free.
Berklee faculty members fly to
Monterey each year, expressly to audition students
during the Monterey Jazz Festival’s Next Generation
Festival. Twenty-five students are chosen from
the anticipated hundreds of Lyons Scholarship
applications we receive. While there is only
one Lyons Scholarship awarded yearly, other sizable
scholarships have been awarded to other members
from this audition group in the past.
"For Jimmy, a big part of having a festival
was the kids, and getting them involved with
jazz," said Tim Jackson, Monterey Jazz Festival
general manager. "We're thrilled with the relationship
with the college, where so many great players
have studied, and a full scholarship, at a place
like Berklee, is a fitting tribute to Jimmy,
who was a real jazz education pioneer."
 
For other giving options (credit
card by phone, stock donation, planned giving),
please contact the Monterey Jazz Festival at
831.373.3366 or e-mail jazzinfo@montereyjazzfestival.org. |
