Arts in the Schools
Arts in the Schools
Willmar Jazz Festival 2024
Cheryl Avenel-Navara: education, Worthington Public Arts Commission chair, SW MN Opportunity council; Judy Beckman: vocal music, Big Stone Arts Council, Big Stone County Historical Society, Big Stone Lake Area Chamber of Commerce CEO; Maggie Fuller: visual art, writing; Anna Johannsen: fiber artist, art teacher, Remick Gallery board, president of Windom Women's Investment group, treasurer of Cottonwood County Animal Rescue, officer of Cotton Quilters; David KelseyBassett: visual artist, musician, Hinterland Art Crawl board; Shawn Kinsinger: theater director, actor, musician, Palace Theatre executive director, Green Earth Players vice president, Luverne Street Music board member, Luverne High School Theater artistic director; Erin Kline, visual art, music, writing, education, SMSU Diversity and Inclusion; Darlene Kotelnicki: theater, city council, library board; Jessica Mata: visual art, dance, Kerkhoven Arts Council; Kylie Rieke: ceramics, murals, music, theater, T-Bird Community Arts Board; Ana Serrano: visual art, business; Kristine Shelstad: visual arts, Madison Mercantile art gallery, Madison Arts Council, Lac qui Parle Players; VFW; Gillian Singler, MN West Community and Technical College chair of Humanities and English instructor, Creative Healing Space volunteer, writer, theater director; Erica Volkir: performing arts, Pipestone Performing Arts Center board, Pipestone Area Chamber of Commerce and CVB director; Mark Wilmes: Tyler Arts Council board president, actor/director, musician, reporter.
Bob Dorlac, visual art, education; Thomas Flynn, writing, visual art, education; John Ginocchio, music, education; Georgette Jones, theater, music, education; David KelseyBassett, visual art, music, SMAC board; Joyce Meyer, visual art, education; Ana Serrano, visual art, SMAC board; Kerry Ward, visual art.
ACHF Arts Education
Each student that performs at this festival will receive positive and constructive feedback to improve their individual musicianship and confidence. Not only will students gain confidence in their overall musicianship and bring that back to their own band programs, they will have a better understanding of why jazz as an entity is an important piece of our history. The clinicians will make musical connections on how jazz can relate to our normal everyday lives and relay the importance of jazz in our cultures and American history. The members of the jazz combo will connect on a personal level with the students, who will gain confidence in their playing skills and artistic merit. After the festival, I will send out a questionnaire to each band director to gain a better understanding of how this festival impacted students. The questionnaire will include questions on how well the clinicians connected with the students and how much jazz knowledge was gained. Instrumental music is one of those disciplines that we can immediately tell if a student has grasped the concepts.