A message from Gene Dobbs Bradford, President & CEO of Jazz St. Louis
What a year it has been! Jazz St. Louis is wrapping up its 25th Anniversary Season, which included a bunch of free and open performances in our Season of Stream Series, lectures and concerts in our Whitaker Jazz Speaks Series, and a spectacular virtual 25th Anniversary Celebration. This may not have been the way we planned to celebrate this milestone moment, but thanks to all of our incredible audience members, followers, supporters, and friends, we had a blast enjoying jazz performances, educating students, and keeping things swinging.
As we prepare to launch ticket sales and announce our 2021-2022 season, we have a lot of gratitude for the support we’ve received through personal contributions, corporate and foundation funders, and state and federal government programs. We were able to carefully manage operations during this year, all while keeping almost our entire staff intact and fully employed. We have doubled-down on our commitment to find ways to meaningfully engage with our community and have spent the last year having conversations about the ways we want to grow, be better, and enhance our programming for the next quarter century.
In the meantime, keep your eye on your email – or sign up for our newsletter! – so you don’t miss any big announcements about the coming season. Speaking of announcements, if you haven’t heard, our friend Keyon Harrold will be joining the JSL team as a Creative Advisor for the next few years thanks to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Check out the story here, if you missed it!
Cheers to the safe return of live jazz!
Gene Dobbs Bradford
President & CEO
Jazz St. Louis
MISSION
Jazz St. Louis is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to lead our community in advancing the uniquely American art of jazz through live performance, education and community engagement.