There are some new musicians in town and they are looking for people who are interested in starting a community band. The Rocco John Group has been awarded the Chamber Music of America Residency Grant for the last four years in a row and are getting ready to apply for it again this year. But this time, they are looking to colaborate with musicians right here on the Lower East Side.
John’s partner, Denise explained via e-mail: Basically, We start community Jazz bands. For the past four years we have done this using this CMA grant to start a standing community jazz band in Alaska. It’s great fun, a community builder, an audience builder, inter-generational and all kinds of good things.
Rocco and I moved to LES a year ago, and have hope that we can share this with our local outta sight community…The grant is due early February, and we need a 501c3 (non profit) to partner with. CMA wants to have this be a community effort, not just musicians renting rehearsal space.
Our partner would help with space to rehearse, store drums, piano and maybe some amps as in kind donations… A place to hold a culminating performance would be great too. We are open as to the logistics and will write the grant to fit our partner.
Anyone who is interested can contact us at denise@roccojohnmusic.com.
Go to www.roccojohnmusic.com to see our latest residencies.
Here is the grant description from CMA:
Chamber Music America Residency Partnership Program
This program supports residency projects in which jazz, classical/contemporary, or world ensemble music is presented outside traditional performance venues and in community settings, with the goal of increasing audience appreciation and awareness of small ensemble music. Applicants collaborate with community organizations to design in-depth activities for participants of various ages and backgrounds.
Residency projects may include workshops, ensemble coaching sessions, lecture/demonstrations, and/or concerts that are not part of a regular series.
