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from the desk of President
Jordan
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August 1, 2008
To all MIAJE General
Membership,
Welcome to our new
e-digs....a new vision, name and organizational framework has been
launched. I'm pleased to report YOU and I are a part of it.
The Michigan Association for
Jazz Education (MIAJE) is alive and swinging!
Our plans have moved
forward to become a self-sustaining entity to
preserve jazz education in Michigan. In essence, our
organization remains intact, is very solvent, and is committed to
maintaining an unwavering mission: to
extend visibility for
jazz education and
awareness in Michigan. By now, you may have taken time to
check out our new web site -- www.miaje.org. It's a new brand and
identify for us, and we hope you engage us
and help enrich the Michigan jazz education community.
Recall this past June, during our web site reconstruction period, I
communicated an update about the Chapter 7 bankruptcy for the former
IAJE
(International Association for Jazz Education) national office.
This effectively closed the doors and it went out of business
(officially, April
19, 2008). All details
and causes of the
bankruptcy have not been disclosed and legal bankruptcy court hearings
continue towards reaching a final resolution on financial assets and
other legal tangibles in the case. However, in summary, the IAJE bankruptcy
did not directly affect us
as a former IAJE state unit chapter.
Since April our Executive Board has been discussing and reviewing
various options for our future. A final measure voted on in
mid-June by the Executive Board approved an agenda to: 1)) maintain our
independent status; 2) to remain committed to all current
jazz education projects, notably music scholarships earmarked for the Detroit International Jazz Festival (DIJF);
3) cultivate a strong partnership with
MSBOA throughout the state of Michigan; 4) fuel efforts to enlarge our
presence
at the Michigan Music Conference held in Grand Rapids each January;
and, 5) to extend a continued commitment to our performing MIAJE
Reading Band. My thanks to the Executive Board for its support of
our mission.
A first step
in our
transition process was to rename our
organization. The Executive Board approved, "Michigan Association
for Jazz Education", and to apply for non-profit organizational
status. The board also voted to maintain all of our current
commitments with monies from the treasury, to maintain the performing
MIAJE Reading Band under the direction of vice-president Bob Nixon, and
to publish general minutes of all Executive Board and General
Membership Meetings on our website, just like before. Bookmark
our new address http://www.miaje.org, and pass it along.
As an
independent organization, MIAJE
aims to keep all options open. We
maintain an independent status. In the future, and only under
Executive Board approval, we could entertain options to affiliate with
a national organization if it serves the best interests of our
membership.
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Post-DIJF
9/3/08 Update:
MIAJE, MSBOA and SEMJA co-presented music scholarship awards to
specially
invited
high school music students who played at the 29th Annual Detroit International
Jazz Festival (Aug-31 to Sept-1). Also, MIAJE held executive
board and general
membership meetings on Labor Day afternoon (4-5 PM, Jazz Garden Stage
area, at Campus Martius on Woodward Avenue). Details on award
winners, meeting minutes, and agenda plans will be published
soon. Future education patrons and general public jazz supporters
are always encouraged to join MIAJE. Contact me for full details.
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Thank you for your generous support of our organization by
being a member. Contact me at any time
should you have a comment, news, feedback, or
perhaps wish to become personally involved in promoting jazz education
in our state. Thank you!
Regards,
Danny Jordan
President, MIAJE
Coordinator of Jazz
Director of Jazz
Ensembles
Oakland University
Rochester, MI
d2jordan@oakland.edu
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