As many of you know, Hurricane Katrina brought most of the already troubled music education programs in New Orleans to a halt… a permanent halt in many schools. Almost every school music program ceased when their buildings and all of their school-owned instruments were destroyed by the storm. Few kids in New Orleans owned instruments even before the storm. If the school didn’t provide one, they didn’t play an instrument.

Tipitina’s Foundation is a New Orleans non-profit organization that accepts used instruments to distribute to the schools. (tipitinasfoundation.org)  In their Instruments A Comin’ program, Tipitina’s Foundation has distributed 2000 instruments  to over 55 local schools and in the hands of deserving students each year... until now. Since the needs of New Orleans’s schools are no long in the news, this past year they only obtained 100 instruments to donate to the schools.  

Jazz Education Network is sponsoring an instrument donation program called “A JENerosity Project” at the upcoming annual conference in New Orleans, January 6-8. 2011.  We are asking conference attendees to bring used instruments to the conference, which will be delivered to the Tipitina Foundation and distributed to school music programs. Items such as mouthpieces, jazz and concert band music, music stands, band uniforms and other things related to a functioning instrumental music program would also be accepted.

New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz and the need is still great for jazz to thrive there within its own musical community. Tipitina’s Foundation is already in place with a well-defined program of evaluating the requests from school’s needing instruments. Donating to some other city without a similar time-tested foundation or mechanism for distribution runs the risk of no accountability or process to make sure they get to the schools that need them.  The foundation owns all instruments so that if a school closes or loses its music program, the foundation can re-distribute the instruments to other deserving schools.  Schools that request instruments must have a music program in place with a qualified band director.  A letter of receipt for tax purposes will be provided by Tipitina’s Foundation to donors who request one.  Only instruments in playing condition can be accepted since Tipitina’s Foundation has neither funds nor a process to repair instruments, String instruments are also needed.

PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO JIM WARRICK IF YOU PLAN TO BRING AN INSTRUMENT TO THE CONFERENCE or have questions or suggestions: JENerosityproject@JazzEdNet.org
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