Mirza Jazz Residency to Expand in Community

Knox College's annual Mirza Jazz Residency will be moving to a larger performance venue in Galesburg and enhancing its promotion and outreach, thanks to a renewed and increased grant from the Jerome Mirza Foundation of Bloomington, IL.

The Foundation recently awarded Knox a three-year grant of $50,000 to support annual residencies from 2016 through 2018. The initial three-year grant of $30,000 supported residencies from 2013 through 2015.

The week-long event showcases an internationally noted jazz artist in residence with the Knox College jazz program. The residency includes masterclasses, lectures, and a free public performance that features a work composed by the students working with the guest artist.

New features of the residency will include outreach to young instrumentalists in the local schools, moving the final concert to the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, and professional recording of residency performances.

"Everybody -- artists, students and the community -- will benefit by holding the concert in the spacious, stunning and acoustically lovely environment of the Orpheum," said Nikki Malley, associate professor of music and director of jazz studies at Knox College. "It's also in keeping with the jazz program's year-round series of events at various venues throughout the community."

After the most recent residency in 2015, when drummer Matt Wilson held a workshop at Churchill Junior High School, Malley said she is looking to bring future guest artists together with more local students -- at in-school events and clinics, or by bringing students to the Knox campus or the Orpheum Theatre.

The inaugural grant, from 2013-2015, brought three leading jazz musicians to Galesburg: percussionist Matt Wilson, a Grammy nominee who performed for an all-star jazz concert at a State Dinner hosted by President Obama at the White House; bassist Ben Allison, tagged by JazzTimes magazine as a "visionary composer and adventurous improviser"; and saxophonist Donny McCaslin, who collaborated with David Bowie on the late rock star's final studio album Blackstar.

The Jerome Mirza Foundation supports programs in education and the arts. It was created by a bequest from Jerome Mirza, an attorney who served as president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, wrote several books on personal injury law, and founded the Jerome Mirza College of Advocacy at Illinois Wesleyan University and the University of Illinois. Mr. Mirza was a passionate jazz aficionado, and Knox College is pleased to have this opportunity to honor his memory by sharing the love of jazz with the campus and Galesburg communities. Mirza's daughter, Candace Mirza of Wilmette, Illinois, is a 1981 Knox graduate.

Mirza Jazz Residency Photos: Top of page, Matt Wilson with middle school students in Galesburg; below, Donny McCaslin, Ben Allison, and Matt Wilson with students on the Knox campus

• More with Matt Wilson...
• More with Ben Allison...
• More with Donny McCaslin in video; in photos...