Music Education 100 Children of Dominican Republic

Dear supporters,

We are halfway through 2021 now. The world is still adapting to the new reality, but that has not stopped FEDUJAZZ from moving forward.

Our students have kept attending to their lessons, divided into small groups, sticking to safety measures that involve mask policy, social distancing, and hygiene. We are still implementing a virtual approach, even though they come to our campus for classes to ensure they will not miss a bit of it!

But here comes the fun part: We had our first concert this year!

Our friends from Sea Horse Ranch kindly invited us to be part of their weekly market, which takes place every Saturday. On May 1st, despite being a holiday, FEDUJAZZ got the chance to delight a beautiful audience. This audience witnessed both students and teachers play together for the first time in over a year.

Why May 1st?

International Jazz Day is celebrated every year on April 31st. Given the invitation to play for the market, it seemed a good idea to share our music with more people. And so we did!

This concert served as a reminder about what music means to us and how it helped us tolerate this long process. Our jazz celebration kicked off with a strings class given by teacher José Francisco Pérez. It was followed by quintet of students made up by Marycris Martínez and Markendy Lafrance (saxophones), Emely Díaz (piano), Alexander Mella (guitar), and Quirico Díaz (drums). The quintet was directed by Fito Morales, playing a set that included legendary jazz standards like I Got Rhythm, Just Friends, and Tin Tin Deo.

Then, some friends from Sea Horse Ranch played for the audience and listened to songs like What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and On The Azure Coast by Vladimir Korovitsyn.

Finally, our teachers' ensemble closed our celebration with some unending energy displayed in a performance that included Caravan, Bachata Rosa, Cantaloupe Island, and more! This ensemble was integrated by Javier Rabinovich (guitar), José Francisco Pérez (violin), Marcelo González (drums), and Fito Morales (piano).

And we celebrate jazz all year long, as we instill it in every student when we teach that music can change us, that it is not an end in itself but the means to ignite a social revolution.

Thanks to your support and generosity, we can implement our projects as we reach the highest number of communities around Cabarete. FEDUJAZZ is willing to become the creative home for many teenagers and children, so with your help, we will provide them with life-changing opportunities that will lead them to chase their dreams.

We wholeheartedly appreciate your contribution.