Jazz Camp of Philadelphia Youth Performing Free at Kimmel Center

Anne Ewers, president and CEO of the Kimmel Center, says it best: “If you look at the vision statement for The Kimmel Center, ‘Transforming lives daily through the arts,’ jazz has such power, such ability to transform, it’s the perfect fit with what we do.”

That transformative power has been the focus of the Jazz Camp of Philadelphia, a program in residence at the Kimmel, which has worked with some of the most talented young musicians in the Philadelphia region for the last several weeks. The cumulation of their efforts will be presented during a free public concert tomorrow, Friday, July 31st at 11 am at the Center’s Perelman Theatre.

“This is easily the best of any camp in the country at the moment,” claims the Center’s Leslie Patterson-Tyler, who shared that the teaching artists for this year included three MacArthur winners, two Doris Duke winners, and three people who were on the cover of Downbeat magazine over the last several months. Over a 1,000 students have come through the camp since it’s inception, and Kimmel reps claim these young musicians have gone on to study at some of the best performing arts schools in the country.

The jazz camp is just one of several programs that the Center offers to educate young performers: Next week, they’ll be kicking off their Broadway Dreams week-long intensive training, plus, in a month, they’ll be holding auditions for Show Stoppers, a free after-school musical theater program.

For more information on any of the training programs offered at the Kimmel, visit their education website.