Atlanta Music Project Fall Concert Series: Preparatory Concert Band

DEAR FRIENDS

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the Atlanta Music Project’s 16th season. For those of you who may not know, our first program, back in 2010, was a small but mighty after-school orchestra program at the Gilbert House, a City of Atlanta Recreation Center in Southwest Atlanta. We had 30 elementary school students attending five days per week, in class for two hours each day! I remember being so inspired by their enthusiasm and natural ability. I was also grateful for their parents, who had the courage to entrust their children to a brand new organization. The teaching artists we hired were not just absolute professionals, they were fully behind our mission to empower youth to realize their possibilities through music.

Sixteen years later, those three groups - students, families, and teaching artists - remain the heart of our success. If they are the heart, our donors are our lungs. Donors breathe life into our vision that music training can lead to life-changing outcomes for youth. Without our cherished donors, AMP would simply not exist. Therefore, they have our ever-lasting gratitude. Tonight’s concert represents all the best parts of AMP coming together. The young musicians of our current youth orchestras and choirs have taken on the repertoire and coachings of our faculty with remarkable courage and artistry. I’m excited to follow their progress throughout this season. Thank you to you all for your continued involvement and support. Cheers to 16!

With Gratitude,

Dantes Rameau, Co-Founder & CEO

Atlanta Music Project INSTITUTIONAL DONORS

Funding provided in part by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Department of Community Development.

Major funding for this organization is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

This program is supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

HERBERT JACKSON AMP

PREPARATORY CONCERT BAND

Herbert Jackson is a proud Black male music educator from Snellville, GA. Jackson attended Central State University, a Historically Black University in Wilberforce, OH graduating as an honor student in 2016 and earning his Master’s in Music Education degree from Boston University with an emphasis in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Mr. Jackson has been an educator for seven years and has taught band and choir at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Herbert currently serves as the director of bands at the School of the Arts at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville, GA.

Under the leadership of Mr. Jackson, the band program was able to earn superior and excellent ratings for state-adjudicated performances. Seniors in the band program have also earned and been awarded over $1 million dollars in scholarships for postsecondary opportunities.

Mr. Jackson also serves and gives back to his community through the Atlanta Music Project, (AMP) serving as a teaching artist for local students enrolled in the preparatory band program.

Jackson also serves as Board secretary for Georgia Educators for Equity and Justice Inc, an organization founded on the liberation and

and belonging of black teachers in the state of Georgia.

Mr. Jackson’s professional affiliate organizations include Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Music Fraternity Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., Professional Association for Georgia Educators, National Association for Music Educators, Georgia Music Educators Association, and Georgia Educators for Equity and Justice Inc.

His hobbies include cooking, traveling, producing, arranging, and composing music.

ATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT PREPARATORY CONCERT BAND

RESERVE YOUR TICKETS HERE

ATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT PREPARATORY CONCERT BAND

OBOE

Lauren Bond

Ikemefula Diop

Harmoni Garner

TRUMPET

Saadiq Bryant

Luca Clavé

Emmitt Crawford

Christian Jones

Sawyer Joseph

BASSOON

SaTori Jefferson

Sundaita Madzimoyo

Olivia Vogel-Troupe

TROMBONE

Khaliyah Brown

Devin Putmon

Domino Thompson

Hunter Wade

FLUTE

Yah’de Ayah

Jubilee Collier

Josiah Gray

Champion Okoye

HORN

Shaheed Abdur-Rahman

Kaison Berry

Jayce Metcalf

Sage Miot

CLARINET

Maximus Jefferson

Bonnie Putmon

Sheldon Thomas

Jeremiah Westover

PERCUSSION

Miles Austin

Ina-Simone Bowman

Zahara Bradford

Noah Davis

Jordan Paul

ATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Philip M. Juravel, CPA, Chair

Jennifer Dorian, Vice-Chair

Byron Gibbs, Treasurer

Racheal Woods, Secretary

Sarah Griesenauer-Barros, Ben Cherian, Anne Cross, Deva Hirsch, Valerie L. Holmes, James F. Lock III, Aaron C. Mitchell, Ceasar C. Mitchell Jr.,

Aisha Moody, Shawn Pacely, Elijah Brown, Dantes Rameau, John Sparrow

ATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT STAFF

Aisha Moody, Co-Founder & Chief Program Officer

Amber Taylor, Associate Director of AMP Academy

Breanna Johnson, Director of Choral Programs

Cruz Duhart, Operations Associate

Dantes Rameau, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Dennis Freeman, Van Driver

D’Laney Bowry, Development & Grants Manager

Durand Bailey, Senior Director of Operations

Isaiah Cuffey, Preparatory School Program Manager

Jack W. Wagner, Director of Grants

José L. Morales, Marketing & Graphic Design Associate

Kamyron Williams, Music Career Advisor

Lauren Jones, Program Operations Associate

Lauren Spence, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer

Liesl McWhorter, Youth Orchestras Program Manager

Lydia Falcon, After-School Programs Associate

Michael Crawford, Facilities Manager

Miriam Huppert, Director of College & Career Services

Nassareen Rahman, Van Driver

Ron Pace, Finance Manager

DEC 15 -16 | 5PM-8PM | AMP CENTER CLICK

ATLANTA MUSIC PROJECT YOUTH CHOIRS AUDITIONS

DEC 15 -16 | 5PM-8PM | AMP CENTER

the atlanta music project mission and history

Founded in 2010, the Atlanta Music Project (AMP) provides world-class music training and performance opportunities supporting youth growth and development. Operating in under-resourced communities, AMP’s mission is to empower youth to realize their possibilities through music.

AMP serves over 1,000 young musicians annually through band, orchestra, and choir programs, private lessons, and the annual month-long AMP Summer Series. The AMP Senior Youth Orchestras and Choirs perform and compete both nationally and internationally. Additionally, AMP houses a college and career program, supporting AMP high school students and alumni. Since 2021, AMP has awarded $545,000 in college scholarships to its alumni.

AMP music ensembles perform more than 60 concerts annually, performing in venues all across Atlanta, from community centers to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. AMP music ensembles have performed alongside international stars such as cellist Sterling Elliott, rapper Lecrae, operatic baritone Edward Parks, R&B singer Monica, The Piano Guys, the Harlem Quartet, electric violinist Lindsey Stirling, pianist Terrence Wilson, and the Imani Winds. AMP musicians can be seen performing with rapper T.I. on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series.

AMP’s young musicians have successfully auditioned for Georgia All-State ensembles, and performed with the Atlanta Opera, the Atlanta Ballet, and the Fox Theatre. AMP ensembles have concertized as far away as Los Angeles, Aspen, Mexico, Canada, and New Zealand. The AMP Senior Youth Choir was crowned winner of the Youth Choirs category at the Open Competition of the 2024 World Choirs Games.

AMP is the recipient of several prestigious awards: 2015 Local Community Service Award (Spelman College), 2016 Neighborhood Builder (Bank of America), 2016 & 2017 Top 50 Youth Arts Program (USA President’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities), 2018 MLK Jr. Community Service Award (Emory University), 2019 Luminary Award for Arts Education (ArtsATL), and 2021 Infusion Award (Lewis Prize for Music).

AMP’s current major funders include the Chestnut Family Foundation, Intuit Mailchimp, the Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation, the Harland Charitable Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Foundation, The Rich’s Foundation, the Sartain Lanier Foundation, the Luluma Foundation, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts Council, Georgia Council for the Arts, Georgia Department of Education, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Delta Community Credit Union, the Next Generation Fund, and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

In 2024, AMP became the recipient of five Steinway pianos and was awarded the prestigious honor of being a Steinway Select School, making AMP one of eight schools in the country with this distinction.

AMP’s partners and collaborators include the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, Atlanta Public Schools, Clayton State University, and the Chestnut Family Foundation.

AMP’s existence is a direct result of the 2009 TED Prize, which was awarded to Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu, founder of Venezuela’s El Sistema. AMP’s co-founders were members of the Sistema Fellows Program at the New England Conservatory in Boston. AMP is a member of “El Sistema USA,” the National Alliance of El Sistema Inspired Programs.

For more information visit http://www.atlantamusicproject.org