Nancy Cook-Monroe: A who's who gathers to kick off 'Year of Jazz'

Nancy Cook-Monroe covered the Year of Jazz kick-off reception that took place at La Fonda on Main, July 27, 2011.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/life/article/A-who-s-who-gathers-to-kick-off-Year-of-Jazz-1711142.php#ixzz1U83cn6Sg

Jack Fishman blogs on Year of Jazz

JACK FISHMAN ON CLASSICAL MUSIC blog post covered the Year of Jazz on July 27, 2011
See: Year of Jazz

Trinity University’s KRTU-FM Launches San Antonio's “Year of Jazz”

KRTU unveils a community-wide collaborative in celebration of its 10th anniversary of providing San Antonio professional jazz programming.

SAN ANTONIO -Trinity University's KRTU-FM 91.7 announces an unprecedented coalition of arts, cultural, and educational organizations from across San Antonio that will band together to celebrate the "Year of Jazz" by staging jazz events each month across the city. The year-long celebration coincides with KRTU's 10th anniversary as a jazz radio station and will convey the richness and diversity of the San Antonio cultural community through the language of jazz.

"The synergy created by this initiative places Trinity University and KRTU in the heart of the arts, cultural, and education community in San Antonio," said Dennis Ahlburg, president of Trinity University.

The "Year of Jazz" kicks off on Oct.  23  in Sunken Garden Theater with "Sunday in Brackenridge Park: Jazz Family Showcase," featuring the world premiere of the San Antonio Jazz Suite with the San Antonio Jazz All-Stars, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio.  The KRTU-commissioned Jazz Suite will tell the story of San Antonio and the people who live here through the language of jazz.  The "Jazz Family Showcase" kick-off event is being staged in partnership with the Brackenridge Park Conservancy, the San Antonio Symphony, the San Antonio Parks Foundation, the San Antonio Public Library, and the City of San Antonio Department of Parks and Recreation.

"The 'Jazz Family Showcase' and the 'Year of Jazz' will help our community achieve its goals of supporting literacy and education for children, bringing families together to celebrate San Antonio's unique history, and promoting San Antonio's arts and cultural institutions," said Mayor Julian Castro in endorsing the initiative.

The "Year of Jazz'' will run from October 2011 to October 2012.   During that time KRTU and more than 20 cultural and arts organizations will stage local jazz performances at venues throughout the city.  "The 'Year of Jazz' celebrates jazz as America's premier musical art form and recognizes the many San Antonio cultural, arts, and education organizations that do so much for our community," said Bill Christ, KRTU general manager and professor of  communication. A complete schedule of San Antonio's "Year of Jazz" can be found at www.yearofjazz.org.

KRTU 91.7 FM is Trinity University's nonprofit, listener supported radio station. The station is a resource of the department of communication that supports the academic curriculum while demonstrating the University's leadership in education and the arts. KRTU is a highly-active media outlet that ties professional staff with community volunteers and students working as interns, managers, and on-air hosts.  The operational development of KRTU has been doubly robust since adopting the jazz format in 2002 making it a cultural force in San Antonio.  In 2007, KRTU joined the first wave of radio stations in the country to begin broadcasting in HD digital audio. The conversion to the HD format was made possible through a technology grant provided by the AT&T Foundation.