Israeli Big Band Jazz Ensemble to perform

On Jan. 6 at 7:30 p.m., the Big Band Jazz Ensemble from Israel’s prestigious Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts will perform at Shalom Park off Providence Road.

This performance is the result of a collaboration of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, the Levine Jewish Community Center and the Jazz Arts Initiative.

Thelma Yellin is a national Israeli high school located in Giv’atayim east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1959 and is dedicated to helping artistically talented youth develop their skills in one of six chosen specialties: classical music, jazz, dance (classical ballet and modern dance), drama, visual arts and film.

Thelma Yellin’s Big Band Jazz Ensemble is in the United States for the Jazz Education Network Conference in Atlanta.

The ensemble will be performing at the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta on Jan. 7.

“We were able to steal them away for a day to visit our community,” said Rachael Levine, the Director of Community Relations and Israel Affairs at the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte.

The Jan. 6 program is one of the many events the Jewish Federation will sponsor throughout 2013 as part of the Israel at 65 Initiative, Levine said.

The initiative celebrates the 65th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel by providing the Charlotte community with multiple opportunities to connect with Israel, Levine said.

The initiative’s mission states that “through speakers, educational workshops, musical and cultural performances, and unique travel opportunities; our community will learn about and be inspired by the enormous accomplishments of this small country.”

The LJCC Visual and Performing Arts Department is excited about this event, director Susan Cherin Gundersheim said.

“One of the goals of our department is to make the LJCC a destination for Charlotte arts enthusiasts to participate in high quality arts experiences,” Gundersheim said.

Prior to the community performance, the LJCC and the JAI are cosponsoring an invitation-only master class for jazz musicians followed by a pizza dinner with the Israeli musicians.

“It will be an amazing and meaningful educational experience for the student musicians from the Jazz Arts Initiative to participate in a Master Class with these talented students from Israel and especially rewarding for a few exceptionally talented students to actually perform with them in the evening concert,” Gundersheim said.

JAI is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to developing an audience for jazz, as well as promoting quality music education and performance opportunities ( www.thejazzarts.org)

“When the (Jewish) Federation told me that (the Big Band Jazz Ensemble) was coming, and they were willing to do more than play a concert, I thought, ‘Why not reach out to the most talented student jazz musicians in the Charlotte area to be part of a master class experience?’ And that is when I contacted Lonnie Davis from the JAI to collaborate on this project,” Gundersheim said.

Davis jumped at the opportunity.

“Connecting the cultural community through jazz is key to JAI’s mission, and this partnership couldn’t be more fitting for us,” said Davis, JAI President and Executive Director.

“Having an opportunity to perform with students from the prestigious Thelma Yellin School of Arts will be a very valuable experience for our local students,” Davis said.

“Music is truly a universal language, and that will be displayed during the jazz master class on Sunday.”

“It will be an amazing and meaningful educational experience,” said Gundersheim.

“We think it will be a fabulous event!” said Levine.