board of directors
Michael R. Sonnenreich, Chairman
Michelle I. Galler, Vice Chair
Conrad D. Kenley, Treasurer
Claude Bailey
Peter Bell
Ronald J. Cohen
John J. Deschauer, Jr.
Abby Fenton
Charles Fishman, President
Roberta Flack
David Gorodetski
Julian Anthony Haywood
Marcia V. Mayo
Harriet Sanford
Sunny Sumter, Vice President
Carmencita Whonder
our mission
The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF), which premiered in 2005, was established to provide enriching and entertaining jazz programs that expose the broadest possible demographic to our nation’s singular original art form – locally, regionally, nationally, and even internationally. The DCJF presents a selection of the jazz genre’s most renowned artists, introduces up-and-coming artists, and provides further exposure for the rich treasure trove of local musicians. Throughout the year, the DCJF nourishes the community with free educational programs that enrich the lives of thousands of DC public and charter school students and their families.
The DCJF promotes the nation’s capital as a vibrant cultural destination, boosts economic development, and offers year-round programming that will establish the DC Jazz Festival among the finest jazz festivals in the world.
Photo: Aaron Kobilis
From the Founder and Executive ProducerDespite its rich jazz history, Washington, DC was the only national capital in the Western world that did not present a jazz festival until the DC Jazz Festival premiered in 2005. In just a few years, the DCJF has become a highly anticipated signature event on the city’s cultural calendar and has garnered widespread acclaim in the media and within the global jazz community. The DCJF would not be possible without the generous support of the Government of the District of Columbia, the National Endowment for the Arts, our sponsors, partners, Board of Directors, artists, and an outstanding, dedicated professional staff, numerous volunteers, and enthusiastic audiences, for which we are greatly appreciative. To paraphrase Jimmy Heath’s composition, dedicated to Dizzy Gillespie, “Without You, No Me.”
We look forward to seeing you next June!
Charles Fishman
From the Chairman For two weeks each June, the DC Jazz Festival offers more than 100 performances and programs in over 50 venues throughout the city. It has garnered widespread acclaim within the global jazz community and has become the largest musical offering in our nation’s capital. I am proud to help bring it to life each year.
As one of the top jazz festivals in the world, the DCJF features signature events at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Phillips Collection; the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden; the National Mall; and jazz clubs, embassies, hotels, and galleries throughout the District. Each year, world-renowned and young artists come from all over the nation and the world to DC, exemplifying the international appeal and following of jazz.
A majority of performances are free to all, including student educational programs, as part of DCJF’s commitment to ensure that the broadest possible demographic experience this unique American art form firsthand.
We hope you join us this coming June.
Michael Sonnenreich
“ Music is a world within itself with language we all understand, with an equal opportunity for all to sing and dance and clap their hands.”
– From “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder
From the Executive DirectorThe District of Columbia is an epicenter for music and art and ideal for the presentation of a world-class jazz festival. An investment in the DC Jazz Festival is an investment in the community. Our spectacular growth is made possible by Washington’s civic, political, business, media and cultural leadership, and strategic guidance of our Board of Directors. Under the artistic direction of DCJF Founder/
Executive Producer Charles Fishman, we are dedicated to providing the best in jazz programming for people of all ages and backgrounds; serving DC communities through robust community engagement programs; and growing the next generation of jazz fans. I am particularly proud of our year-round education initiatives that get students “jazzed” about learning. Our free education programs encourage creativity, innovation, imagination, and discipline. We believe that a strong foundation in the arts can increase student achievement levels. And, all of us here at DCJF hope if our children are exposed to jazz at an early age, they will become jazz fans for life and continue the Festival tradition in the years to come.
Sunny Sumter
“ When Producer Charles Fishman called me to be part of the DC Jazz Festival team, I knew something very special was in the works.”
– Paquito D’Rivera Artistic Director
Photo: Larry Davis
dc jazz festival timeline
“ Be it therefore Resolved that jazz is hereby designated as a rare and valuable national American treasure to which we should devote our attention, support and resources to make certain it is preserved, understood and promulgated.”
– Congressional Resolution H. Res. 57, December 1987
2004 Grammy Award-winning
Producer Charles Fishman
establishes Festivals DC, Ltd.
incorporated as a non-profit
501(c)(3) organization, with the
mission to establish and present
an annual jazz festival in the
District of Columbia.
2005 The first annual Duke
Ellington Jazz Festival (DEJF)
premieres in Washington, DC and
features a representation of jazz’s
most renowned artists.
2006 Multiple Grammy
Award-winner and NEA Jazz
Master Paquito D’ Rivera joins
Executive Producer Charles
Fishman as co-Artistic Director
of the Festival.
2007 The Festival partners
with Bohemian Caverns to
produce the venue’s first live
jazz recording, Soul con Timba,
in over 40 years.
2007 The third annual
Festival celebrates the 90th
birthday year of jazz legend
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie.
2008 Over 50,000 fans attend
the fourth annual Festival, and
more than 30 restaurants, clubs,
hotels, museums, and galleries
participate in the highly popular
Jazz in the ‘Hoods program.
The festival also debuts Jazz ‘n
Families Fun Days in partnership
with the Phillips Collection,
attracting 4,000 participants.
2009 The Duke Ellington
Jazz Festival is renamed as
the DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) to
specify its location and reflect
Washington, DC’s vibrant jazz
history and tradition.
2009 Over 80,000 fans
celebrate the DCJF’s fifth
anniversary and the unique,
diverse, and rich jazz legacy
of New Orleans. Fittingly, the
Festival ends with the “first
family” of New Orleans convening
at the Kennedy Center to honor
its patriarch, the great pianist,
composer, and educator,
Ellis Marsalis.
2010 Internationally
renowned singer/songwriter/
pianist/producer Roberta Flack
is named Honorary Chair of the
DCJF Education Committee
and joins the Festival’s Board
of Directors.
Photo: Ronald H. Green
Jazz in the ‘HoodsJazz in the ‘Hoods – an exciting partnership with local restaurants, clubs, hotels, museums, and galleries in celebration of jazz in our nation’s capital – is a major feature of the DC Jazz Festival. The program highlights DC as a vibrant center for jazz by promoting performances in more than 30 local venues across the city. Jazz in the ‘Hoods performances attract both residents and tourists in growing numbers, increasing revenue streams for the venues
as well as local businesses, and encouraging patronage of establishments that present jazz. With more than 80 performances presented in every neighborhood in the city, Jazz in the ‘Hoods brings jazz to the forefront of DC’s urban vibe.
signature programs
Photo: Ronald H. Green
Jazz on the National MallJazz on the National Mall is a free all-day event that features some of today’s most celebrated jazz artists. Located at the Sylvan Amphitheater on the National Mall, at the foot of the Washington Monument, Jazz on the National Mall is the biggest and best-attended event of the Festival, attracting more than 30,000 visitors each year. Past performers have included Wayne Shorter, the Terence Blanchard Quintet, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Taj Mahal, Dee Dee Bridgewater, McCoy Tyner, the Dizzy Gillespie™ Alumni All-Star Orchestra, Paquito D’Rivera and the United Nation Orchestra, Buckwheat Zydeco, Nicholas Payton, the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band, and Irma Thomas.
Jazz ‘n Families Fun DaysThis free weekend-long event celebrates the synergy between jazz and the visual arts. Presented in partnership with The Phillips Collection, Jazz ‘n Families Fun Days feature dynamic, entertaining performances, and interactive programs that visitors can create and enjoy – including an instrument petting zoo, storytelling, family jazz band portraits, and face-painting. In the galleries, children create their own art, surrounded by masterpieces by Renoir, Pablo Picasso, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Featured jazz artists who have participated in this program in the past include the Berklee World Jazz Nonet, Michael Bowie Trio, Charles Rahmat Woods Quartet, Reginald Cyntje, and the DC Jazz Collaborative.
Jazz Under the StarsJazz Under the Stars is an evening outdoor jazz concert at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in DC’s Rock Creek Park.Featured artists in 2010 included Colombian harp sensation Edmar Castaneda and the world-renowned Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band.
“ It was a pleasure to be at a jazz festival that is 100% jazz.”
– Ellis Marsalis
Photo: DCJF
education“ This kind of interaction was the first of its kind. It was groundbreaking and truly sets a precedent for bringing [ jazz education] into the White House.”
– Thomas R. Carter, President of the Monk Institute
The DCJF Roberta Flack Music Excellence ProgramThe DCJF Roberta Flack Music Excellence Program encourages young people to get “jazzed.” Its purpose is to serve kids and adults with special needs, provide music development opportunities to budding musicians, and create opportunities to build new audiences.
Named in honor of Roberta Flack, the internationally renowned singer/songwriter/pianist/producer, and Honorary Chair of the Education Committee, the DCJF Education Program offers:
• Free Concerts, Workshops, and Master Classes serving thousands of DC students each year.
• Jazz Meets Hip Hop, a concert/workshop that explores the connections between jazz and hip hop music, and what common elements these African-American cultural creations share.
• Jazzin’ at Sitar, our signature after-school program in partnership with Sitar Arts Center.
• MLK Day of Service Event, held annually in January, includes a concert honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., and features students and jazz professionals.
• DCJF Jazz for a Healthier Generation Initiative is an education and wellness partnership with leading health institutions. It uses music to promote healthier lifestyles, wellness, healing, and rehabilitation.
education
Honoring Artists and AdvocatesEach year, the DC Jazz Festival honors jazz greats and supporters for their lifetime achievements and enduring contributions to jazz.
The DCJF Lifetime Achievement Award is bestowed at the DCJF’s annual Jazz Masters Live concert during the Festival, in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts, to individuals who have distinguished themselves as renowned artists and model representatives for jazz, and have dedicated their lives to jazz as an art form, an education tool, and a unifying force. Honorees include Dave Brubeck, Dr. Billy Taylor, Hank Jones, Clark Terry, George Wein, Buck Hill, Ellis Marsalis, and James Moody.
The John Conyers, Jr. Jazz Advocacy Award was established in 2007, named for the Honorable John Conyers, Jr., Congressman (D-MI). Congressman Conyers deservedly received the DCJF’s first jazz advocacy award in recognition of his many years of devotion and commitment to jazz and his tireless efforts to ensure its rightful place in America’s history. Other honorees include Dana Gioia, former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Government of the District of Columbia, and Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr., Chairman of Patton Boggs LLP.
“ This wonderful organization produces the very best in cultural programs.”
– The National Education Foundation
Photo: DCJF
Christian Howes
Christian McBride
Chuck Brown
Clark Terry
Claudio Roditi
Cyrus Chestnut
Danilo Perez
David Sanchez
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Delfeayo Marsalis
Dianne Reeves
Dizzy Gillespie™ Alumni All-Star Big Band
Don Vappie & The Creole Jazz Serenaders
Donald Harrison
Dr. Billy Taylor
Dr. John
Dr. Michael White & The Original Liberty Jazz Band
Duke Ellington Orchestra
Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band
Edmar Castaneda
Ellis Marsalis
Hank Jones
Harry Connick Jr.
Irma Thomas
James Moody
Jason Marsalis
Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band
Jimmy Heath
John Scofield
Little Freddie King
Marc Cary Focus Trio
Marian Petrescu
Mavis Staples
Michael Phillip Mossman
Nicholas Payton
Paquito D’Rivera
Pernell Saturnino
Randy Weston
Roberta Flack
Roberta Gambarini
Roy Hargrove
Roy Haynes
Slide Hampton
Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra
Steve Turre
Terence Blanchard
The Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band
The Rebirth Brass Band
The Roy Hargrove Big Band
The United Nation Orchestra
Tony Madruga
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Winard Harper
Wynton Marsalis
DCJF Past Performers Afro Blue
Akua Dixon & Quartette Indigo
Anat Cohen
Antonio Hart
Arturo O’Farrill Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
Bob French’s Original Tuxedo Band
Branford Marsalis
Buckwheat Zydeco
support us
Each year, the DC Jazz Festival presents more than 100 dazzling performances in nearly 50 venues in every quadrant throughout Washington, DC, making it the largest and most diverse music festival in the District of Columbia. Your support will help underserved students learn more about jazz and provide a helping hand to young people and adults with special needs.
The DC Jazz Festival also offers unparalleled opportunities to advance your company’s brand in the nation’s capital through inclusion in the Festival’s extensive marketing campaign that reaches more than 29 million households, visibility in the city’s most high-profile venues, and exposure to Washington, DC’s most influential decision-makers through on-site networking opportunities.
For more information on how to support the DC Jazz Festival, please call 202.457.7628, email [email protected], or visit www.dcjazzfest.org.
“ …The DC Jazz Festival adopts the notion that jazz is something that the whole family can enjoy….”
– Washington City Paper
Photo: DCJF
“ The DC Jazz Festival is a high watermark for jazz fans in the DC metropolitan area. It marked (so far) the biggest and best music festival in our nation’s capital. And it was jazz! Lots of it – quality and quantity – covering more than 100 performances. Thanks, DCJF!”
– Le Monde du Jazz
Sponsorship
www.dcjazzfest.org
Corporate Opportunities The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF), the largest musical offering in our nation’s capital city, is an exciting,
highly-anticipated signature event on Washington, DC’s cultural calendar. Having garnered
widespread media acclaim since its inception in 2005, the DCJF is recognized among the finest
festivals in the global jazz community. In 2011, the Festival attracted more than 80,000 people of
all ages and backgrounds from the Washington, DC Greater Metropolitan Area, as well as out-of-
town visitors, who came to enjoy and be enriched by over 100 performances and programs
in nearly 50 venues throughout the city — all for the love of jazz.
Education is a major priority and primary component of the DC Jazz Festival, and
the DCJF year-round Roberta Flack Music Excellence Education Program serves
thousands of DC public and charter school students, enabling them to learn about,
enjoy and appreciate jazz, our nation’s singular original art form.
But it takes more than love to bring emerging, nationally and internationally
renowned artists to perform at the Festival each year. That’s where your company
can help — by becoming a sponsoring partner of the 2012 Festival.
To learn more about how your company can play an important role, while significantly
advancing your brand, visit www.dcjazzfest.org or call Sunny Sumter at 202-457-7628.
Join a distinguished circle of DCJF partners, and enjoy the pleasure and benefit of
supporting performances and year-round educational programs by choosing to become
a festival sponsor. Categories include:
GOLD $50,000
• Presenting sponsor partner privileges for one major event, including
presenting title, co-branding promotion, signage, and on-site marketing
opportunities
• Prominent corporate logo/name and recognition on the DCJF website
and pre-approved promotional materials, such as the DCJF brochure
(distribution 40,000), print and online advertisements, press releases,
newsletters, posters, and social media networks
• Sponsorship of three communiqués sent to the DCJF mailing list
• Festival event privileges, including 12 VIP tickets to your choice of DCJF ticketed and
exclusive concerts, including invitation-only reception with Festival Board of Directors
and Executive Producer Charles Fishman and Co-Artistic Director Paquito D’Rivera
• Invitation for two (2) to the Annual Trustees Dinner
• Backstage “Meet and Greet” with headline artists including photo opportunities
DC Jazz Festival
DCJF Sponsorship
SILVER $25,000
• Corporate logo/name and recognition on DCJF website and selected promotional
materials, such as the DCJF brochure, press releases, print and online advertisements,
newsletters, posters, and social media networks
• Sponsorship of two communiqués sent to the DCJF mailing list
• Festival event privileges, including 6 complimentary tickets to your choice of DCJF
ticketed and exclusive concerts and VIP access
• Invitation for two (2) to the Annual Trustees Dinner
• Backstage “Meet and Greet” with headline artists including photo opportunities
BRONZE $10,000
• Corporate logo/name listing on DCJF website and selected promotional materials, such
as the DCJF brochure, press releases, print and online advertisements, newsletters,
posters, and social media networks
• Sponsorship of one communiqué sent to the DCJF mailing list
• 2 VIP tickets to DCJF’s Jazz Meets the Classics at the Kennedy Center
• Event privileges, including 4 complimentary tickets to your choice of DCJF
ticketed concerts
• Invitation for two (2) to the Annual Trustees Dinner
• Backstage “Meet and Greet” with Festival artists including photo opportunities
Circle of Friends
www.dcjazzfest.org
The Circle of Friends brings together individuals and organizations that support the arts in Washington.
The generosity of our donors makes it possible to offer our year-round Roberta Flack Music Excellence
Education Program initiative, which serves thousands of DC public and charter school students.
Linda and Michael Sonnenreich
Ronald J. Cohen
Michelle Galler
Peter Bell
Jody Ann Brown
Jane and Calvin Cafritz
CakeLove
The Honorable Michael
and Meryl Chertoff
Coca-Cola Company
Dallas Morse Coors Foundation
John J. Deschauer, Jr.
Dorothy G. Bender Foundation
Michal Fishman
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Georgetown Media Group
Georgia Brown’s
Geppetto
Richard Goldberg
Julian A. Haywood
HH Medstar Health, LLC
Donald J. Foley and Louise Hilsen
Pamela and Paul Kaplan
Conrad D. Kenley
Harvey J. Kronberg
Andrew Linebaugh
Thomas R. Cooke and Rebecca Little
David Morgan
Paul’s Bakery and Café
Stephanie Jo Peters
Deborah V. Robinson
Roger B. Schagrin
United Way
Washington Parent
Leslie Whipkey
James R. Woodyard
Mr. and Mrs. William D. Wiley
DC Jazz Festival
DCJF Circle of Friends
You can have a starring role in the DCJF’s most prestigious events, as well as the Roberta Flack
Music Excellence Education Program, by becoming a member of this popular giving category today!
Categories include:
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE $5,000
• VIP access to all major events
• Special “Best Festival Picks” from Artistic Director Charles Fishman
• Pre-Festival dinner and show with DCJF Artistic Directors Charles Fishman and Paquito D’Rivera
• Invitation for two (2) to the Annual Trustees Dinner
• 2 Tickets to the Closing Concert
• 2 Tickets to Jazz Meets the Classics at the Kennedy Center
OVATION SOCIETY $1,000 - $4,999
• Invitation for two (2) to the Annual Trustees Dinner
• 2 Tickets to the Closing Concert
• 2 Tickets to Jazz Meets the Classics at the Kennedy Center
BENEFACTOR $500 - $999
• 2 Tickets to Jazz Meets the Classics at the Kennedy Center
• 2 Tickets to any major 2012 DCJF event
PATRON $250 - $499
• 2 Tickets to any major 2012 DCJF event, excluding DCJF at the Kennedy Center
To learn more about how you can play an important role, visit www.dcjazzfest.org or call 202-457-7628.
Sponsors
www.dcjazzfest.org
Corporate & Institutional Sponsors
The DC Jazz Festival is extremely grateful for the generous support
of our corporate and institutional sponsors:
$200,000 +
Microsoft Corporation/Bing
$100,000+
Patton Boggs, LLP
Sage Communications
$50,000+
ABC-7/WJLA-TV & News Channel 8
Events DC
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
The Washington Post
$20,000+
AT&T
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
LCG Systems, Inc.
The Mayo Charitable Foundation
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
Verizon
Washington City Paper
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
DC Jazz Festival
DCJF Sponsors
Additional Sponsors:
American Airlines, Inc.
Amtrak
Arcadiana
Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
Brooks Harrison
Destination DC
Downbeat Magazine
Dworbell, Inc.
HSBC
Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
The NEA Foundation
NetSpend
The Phillips Collection
Radio One
Southern Wine and Spirits FP
Telemundo
The Washington Informer
Whole Foods
WPFW-FM
Venue Partners
www.dcjazzfest.org
DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) programs and its unique partnerships with dozens of clubs,
restaurants, hotels, galleries and other organizations attracted more than 80,000
attendees in 2011 to more than 16 neighborhoods across the city. Such partnerships
bring new energy to DC’s cultural landscape, and preserve and promote one of
America’s national treasures, jazz. DCJF venue partners have included:
Atlas Performing Arts Center
Bohemian Caverns
Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington
Children’s National Medical Center
CapitalBop
Dance Place
District of Columbia Public Schools
Dumbarton House
La Maison Française/Embassy of France
George Washington University Hospital
Howard University
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Mandarin Oriental
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
National Park Service
The National Museum of Women in the Arts
The Phillips Collection
Sitar Arts Center
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts
Smithsonian American Art Museum
THEARC Performing Arts Center
Twins Jazz
Warner Theatre
DC Jazz Festival
“ The DC Jazz Festival is a high watermark for jazz fans in the DC metropolitan area. It marked (so far) the biggest and best music festival in our nation’s capital. And it was jazz! Lots of it – quality and quantity – covering more than 100 performances. Thanks, DCJF!”
– Le Monde du Jazz
www.dcjazzfest.org
The DC Jazz Festival® is a project of Festivals DC, Ltd., a 501(c)(3) non-profit service organization. The DC Jazz Festival is funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. © 2011 Festivals DC, Ltd. All rights reserved.