ArtsTeach @ The Mann
With the completion of The Mann’s $15 million in capital renovations in 2007, the Field Education Center was opened in the spring of 2007. This new space enabled The Mann to expand our educational programs by providing a studio space for intimate workshops, lectures and demonstrations for area youth to interact with local and internationally renowned artists, and engage personally with the performing arts.
In its first year The Mann brought nearly 3,000 youth to the new education center for ArtsTeach, our expanded educational programs, with 55 separate events over 6 programs including: Artist in Residency, Master Class, Meet the Artist, In Touch with Tiny Tots, Greenfield Performance Treasures, and Connecting Arts @ the Center.
This year, in its third season, ArtsTeach reached over 4,700 youth from city wide schools, recreation centers, churches, and cultural and national organizations with 43 workshops. These workshops helped students aged 3-17 to comprehend and retain, improved self-esteem, and challenged them to think in new and creative ways. The Mann Center provides these exceptional programs and transportation free of charge to all ArtsTeach participants.
Meet the Artist
This series offers artistic career-bound students the opportunity to collaborate with professional artists during various workshops. These intimate sessions allow students to interact with world-class artists and receive immediate feedback with lasting value toward furthering their aspirations of a professional career in the arts.
On May 21st, NEA Jazz Master Dr. Billy Taylor visited the Girard Academic Music Program, and imparted his musical wisdom. Dr. Taylor spoke to the students about his life and career, and listened intently as they played his original works. After critiquing their performance, Dr. Taylor answered questions from the audience of over 500 music majors, and gave them advice on pursuing their dreams.
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| Dr. Taylor demonstrates his masterful talent | Dr. Taylor engages GAMP students |
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| GAMP Concert Choir and Jazz Ensemble Perform Dr. Taylor’s original work |
Dr. Taylor’s Q&A session was moderated by Jeff Duperon, radio personality from Temple University’s WRTI-FM |
About Dr. Taylor
Dr. Billy Taylor encompasses that rare combination of creativity, intelligence, vision, commitment and leadership - qualities that make him one of our most cherished national treasures. A distinguished ambassador of the jazz community to the world-at-large, Dr. Billy Taylor's recording career spans nearly six decades.
Playing the piano professionally since 1944, he got his start with Ben Webster's Quartet. He has performed with such celebrated masters as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.
Dr. Taylor has not only been an influential musician but also a highly regarded teacher, receiving his Masters and Doctorate degrees in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and serving as a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University.
Dr. Taylor is one of only three jazz musicians appointed to the National Council of the Arts and also serves as the Artistic Advisor for Jazz to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
With over twenty three honorary doctoral degrees, Dr. Taylor is also the recipient of two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, and a Grammy, as well as a host of prestigious and highly coveted prizes, such as the National Medal of Arts, the Tiffany Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Downbeat Magazine and election to the Hall of Fame for the International Association for Jazz Education.
In Touch With Tiny Tots
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| Tiny Tots | Sandy Taylor, Storyteller |
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| RAGGS onstage with our Tiny Tots |
The Mann Center presented RAGGS Live Dance Party for our tiny tots on May 7th and 8th at the Girard Academic Music Program. Over 1,200 little ones moved and grooved with these five colorful canines in a learning adventure!
This series connects students and teachers directly with professional artists in participatory activities that enrich, educate, and entertain. Participants are selected from public schools, the Philadelphia Department of Recreation and citywide summer camps. This past season, more than 800 participants filled the Education Center for these wonderful workshops.
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| Zen One Dance Collective | Sadayah Galloway | Kala Jojo, Storyteller |
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| Paul Green School of Rock Music | Philadelphia Boys Choir |
Greenfield Performance Treasures
This series is an expansion of The Mann Center’s Young People’s Concert Series designed to connect the young participants directly to the scheduled performances and artists with pre-and-post concert demonstrations, lectures, and participatory activities. The workshops this past season reached over 2,000 young people!
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| Buckets and Tap Shoes | Chosen Dance Company |
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| Cirque Des Amis | Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble |
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| Rock School for Dance Education | Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble |
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| Flamenco Ole! |
• Connelly Foundation
• Dolfinger-McMahon
• Hamilton Family Foundation
• The LENFEST Foundation
• Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation
• The Christopher Ludwick Foundation
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