Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
Flea Finds His Jazz Thing
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The Jazz Education Network was born June 1 in a hotel conference room in suburban Chicago.
Some 35 jazz education leaders and music industry professionals gathered to form the organization which will focus on expanding jazz education, jazz performance opportunities and jazz audiences.
The new organization has emerged following the April announcement that the International Association for Jazz Education would file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The IAJE announcement left a void in the jazz education community that the Jazz Education Network will try to fill.
“The energy and passion that people brought into the room was incredible,” said Mary Jo Papich, who was elected president of the Network. “We were able to accomplish so much in just a short amount of time this weekend. We chose a name, drafted a mission statement, reviewed a draft of our bylaws selected a board and even began to discuss potential member benefits and levels.”
“This process went surprisingly well,” said Gene Wenner, president of Arts & Education Consultants and the facilitator of the meeting. “There was a sense that everyone had a part in the process and could take ownership in the outcome.”
Papich, the Fine Arts Chair at Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Ill., and Lou Fischer, a leading jazz educator and professor of music at Capital University Conservatory of Music in Columbus, Ohio, served as the driving forces behind the meeting. Fischer was elected to serve as vice president of the Network. Bruce Silva, vice president of Buffet Crampon USA, will serve as the organization’s treasurer and Julie Traenkenschuh, a music director at Woodruff High School in Peoria, Ill., will be secretary.
The mission statement for the organization says: The Jazz Education Network is dedicated to building the jazz arts community by advancing education, promoting performance and developing new audiences.”
The Network is in the process of filing for non-profit organization status. Once complete, it will begin the work of developing programs and attracting membership.
A Web site will be up shortly at www.jazzednet.org that will provide organizational updates and membership information.
Papich and Fischer had both resigned from the board of directors of IAJE before its bankruptcy announcement. Papich was IAJE president-elect before resigning. Fischer was U.S. Representative for the organization.
With the new organization, both expressed the need to build a new and better managed entity focused on the needs of the membership.
Frank Alkyer
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