Liberace Jazztet earns third year from Liberace Foundation

NIU's acclaimed NIU Liberace Jazztet will swing for a third year, thanks to renewed - and boosted - funding from the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts.

Formed less than two years ago with a generous grant from the Liberace Foundation, the small group already has staked a global reputation with a January performance in Toronto before thousands at the annual conference of the International Association for Jazz Educators.

The jazztet will grace the stage this June at the JVC Jazz Festival in New York City as one of only three collegiate combos invited, and has an invitation to play a jazz festival in Lima, Peru, next April. The group also has recorded a CD.

Paul Bauer, director of the NIU School of Music, said the jazztet's busy schedule the first two years played a key role in securing the third year of financial support.

"It's very important to the Liberace Foundation that these students in the arts receive public recognition as Liberace Scholars. It's a very natural link to have a performing group that can go out and perform on campus and off campus," Bauer said. "I requested a 20 percent increase in funding for 2003-04, and the increase was granted. This $12,000 grant will provide funding for six students to participate."

When Bauer initially applied for a $10,000 grant in 2001 - greeted with success in his first attempt - he approached the venture with annual funding on his mind.

"We have a national reputation, particularly at the graduate level, being in the top 10 graduate programs in jazz studies," he said then. "We have established a program attractive for the Liberace Foundation to fund. We're building on something that's already achieving recognition. It just seemed to be a natural lining up of the stars."

"This gives huge perspective on the depth of our program," added Ron Carter, director of the Liberace Jazztet and coordinator of the jazz studies program here. "Now people are talking about our small groups as well as our large groups. That was unheard of in the past."

Members of the Liberace Jazztet must be juniors, seniors or graduate students who are outstanding jazz performers and come with the recommendation of faculty. Graduate students benefit most because the School of Music provides them with enough additional responsibilities and salary to receive tuition waivers from the Graduate School.

Responsibilities include several hours of rehearsal each week and work with faculty mentors. Performing is key.

The Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts has awarded more than $4 million in scholarship grants to more than 100 universities, schools and organizations since 1976.

In its first year, it sponsored a series of four concerts to benefit the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Music Department Scholarship Fund. The success of this early venture underscored the importance of establishing and maintaining a regular funding program in support of the country's thousands of promising creative artists.

Four years later, in 1980, the foundation funded its first major scholarship series, awarding $10,000 scholarships to five learning institutions across the country. The ambition and reach of the foundation has broadened dramatically since.

4-28-03