“Strayhorn is like Beethoven–every note he wrote seems inevitable.”

THE BILLY STRAYHORN FOUNDATION

Mission

The Billy Strayhorn Foundation, Inc. (BSF) exists to celebrate the music and life of composer, arranger, pianist Billy Strayhorn. The BSF supports this through live music performance, lectures and symposia.

The Jazz Education Initiative consists of:

-Building relationships with jazz educators, music teachers and music artists through its participation in the Jazz Education Network annual conference.

-Creating educational materials on issue surrounding the capture, preservation, management and broadening of the musical legacy of Billy Strayhorn. BSF members have developed and delivered presentations at the annual Jazz Education Network conferences, at colleges, and other venues throughout the United States.

-Collaborating with organizations to promote the music and tell the life story of Billy Strayhorn.

21st CENTURY STRAYHORN

The Billy Strayhorn Foundation is extending its jazz education initiative by partnering with schools and other groups to provide scholarship support to well qualified music students. The Billy Strayhorn Jazz Education Scholarship Award (BSJESA) was established in 2008 by Billy Strayhorn Songs, Inc. to recognize students, teachers and institutions that display through performance and instruction, a strong passion for playing, studying and perpetuating jazz. The Billy Strayhorn Foundation has managed the award since 2010. Given annually, the BSJESA promotes the values to which Billy Strayhorn adhered in his musical life namely, personal integrity, commitment to excellence, and perseverance.

Jazz Education Outreach

The Jazz Education Outreach consists of six major elements:

1) Participation in Jazz Education Conferences:
*JEN 2012 Conference Theme: Managing the Legacy, The Strayhorn Archives. 2013 Conference Theme: Managing the Legacy, 2014/2015 Conference Theme: The Billy Strayhorn Centennial. 2016 Conference Theme: The book, “Strayhorn:An Illustrated Life”. 2017 Conference Theme: The Billy Strayhorn Foundation and highlighting The Billy Strayhorn Jazz Education Scholarship recipients.

2018 Conference Theme: The Billy Strayhorn JEN host city scholarship award. Highlighting the updated Billy Strayhorn website.

2) Building relationships with jazz educators, music teachers and musical artists.

3) Collaboration with organizations that promote the music and image of Billy Strayhorn to students from elementary school through college. This includes partnerships with Temple University, Eastman School of Music, Nashville Jazz Workshop, The Litchfield Jazz Camp, KIPP Believe College Prep in New Orleans and the Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas..

4) Communicating Foundation activities on the BSSI website, Twitter and Facebook.

5) Telling the Strayhorn Story- a series of pamphlets, presentations and a traveling exhibit which provides family perspectives on Billy Strayhorn, and discuss issues surrounding the capture of, the preservation of, the management of, and the broadening of the musical legacy of Billy Strayhorn.

6) Provide financial support for up and coming middle school, high school and college musicians through an annual Billy Strayhorn scholarship award.The Billy Strayhorn Scholarship award was established in 2008 to recognize students, teachers, and institutions that display through performance and instruction a strong passion for playing, studying and perpetuating jazz.