51Âþ»­

Music students from 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) have visited Jazz at Lincoln Center to learn all about jazz music, and were even able to see one of the world’s best orchestras up close in a live rehearsal.

Jazz at Lincoln Center, which overlooks Central Park in the heart of Manhattan, is a concert venue and educational resource which is also the home of the last remaining full-time jazz orchestra in the USA.

Students were given a tour of the building and an interactive presentation which traced the origins of jazz in 19^th century New Orleans all the way through to the modern day.

They were told about issues relating to culture, race and gender which shaped the way the music developed and still impact jazz today.

The students were also given exclusive access to a two-hour rehearsal by the orchestra, which was led by the centre’s artistic director and legendary trumpet player Wynton Marsalis.

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Third year student Dominic Green said: “We got to go into one of the rehearsals for the Bobby Newman 80^th anniversary show, which was pretty amazing. All the top tier musicians were rehearsing for the show.

“We also got a tour around the building and we learned about all the history of jazz, the impact of it culturally and everything about it. It was great.”

51Âþ»­’s Head of Music Chris Heighton believes that the visit will act as a huge inspiration for the 20 students that attended.

He said: “It was a great opportunity for music students to explore how a professional jazz orchestra operates.

“The students can take a lot away from it in terms of how it will inform their future choices of what they want to do on graduation, and actually providing a point of inspiration. There’s a great deal to take from it and certainly food for thought.”

Following this visit, the students spent the afternoon at Carnegie Hall, one of America’s best known concert venues.

They were given an all-access tour of the facility and received a further insight into how the music industry operates at the very highest level.