The highlight of the 12th Annual Gala Weekend for the Hampton Roads Jazz Legacy Foundation is of course the music, but the purpose is what drives the organizers.
“We want to do our best to keep music education alive,” said Jeri Lyn Horne-Keels, executive director of the Jazz Legacy Foundation.
From Nov. 7-10, award-winning artists will perform around Hampton Roads to benefit jazz music education in the region.
The lineup includes notables like Patrice Rushen, Walter Beasley, Richard Elliot, Brian Culbertson, Acoustic Alchemy, Lakeside and Virginia-based acts Victor Wooten & the Wooten Brothers and Jakiem Joyner, to name a few.
Horne-Keels and husband Alvin E. Keels Sr. started the foundation in Portsmouth and supported its programming with two days of events. Now, the whole gala weekend stretches into the week and lasts five days.
Alvin E. Keels Sr., president and CEO of the Jazz Legacy Foundation, said the weekend’s events have always been to improve the status of arts in the community.
“It is our mission to transform young lives … by way of educational scholarships, creative arts, leadership development, mentoring workshops and community partnerships, all with the aspiration of enhancing the appreciation and preservation of jazz,” he said.
Horne-Keels emphasized the foundation has always supported schools by giving out funds to area high schools and students.
“Some of the artists that we have as part of the lineup will be conducting workshops at various schools each day,” she said. “It shows students “this is what you can possibly do because jazz is really about expressing yourself.”
This year marks the first time the performers mentored students at the college level and worked with students at Hampton University.
Horne-Keels said the artists work with students in-person and through social media and online workshops.
“It is a unique relationship because it is not about being famous or popular, it’s like having a connection where there is a give and take communication on both sides, where the stars are just real people and they can just be your friend and mentor.”
In addition to mentoring, the Jazz Legacy Foundation also donates old instruments to students and schools where music education programs have been cut.
For ticket information and a full schedule of events during the 12th Annual Gala Weekend to benefit the Jazz Legacy Foundation, visit the Foundation online.
