Woodshed Update #1
Last summer, we came to you to help us fund The Woodshed at The Jazz Gallery, a new initiative to offer musicians the use of our space at no charge for rehearsal, research, and development. With your help, we raised over $20,000 in just 31 days via Kickstarter.Executive Director Deborah Steinglass explains, "The Woodshed is a natural extension of the Gallery’s mission and organizational culture. Offering artists a rehearsal space at the venue they have come to know as 'home' helps builds a sense of community and also acts to support that community." We launched the program in early January. Since then, approximately fifty artists have enrolled in the program, and over eighty hours of rehearsal time have been made available. "Over the past few weeks a multitude of artists have been here working – each with vastly different projects; large and small ensembles", Deborah notes. "As a staff member it’s a treat to hear their work progress during the rehearsal process. And knowing we are really helping them out is a source of personal pride and satisfaction."If you have performed at The Gallery (either as a leader or as a sideperson), you can enroll in the program here.TheWall Street Journal profiled the initiative in an article recently, which includes a few wonderful quotes from the artists benefiting from the program.Here are a few testimonials from artists who have been taking advantage of the program:Doug Wamble:
Rio and the Jazz Gallery have been giving musicians a space to work on their music for many years now. It's a place where artists can play to a receptive audience, develop new work, and improve on their craft. The Woodshed is an expansion of that, giving musicians a place to rehearse in a welcoming space that is free of charge. We need more people with vision like this in our city right now. Here's to the start of something good!
I’m very thankful for The Jazz Gallery's support. Leading a large ensemble in NYC in the twenty-first century is not easy. Knowing that I don’t have to worry about spending a lot of money, or about compromising the quality or location of the rehearsal space, is a true blessing. Many thanks!
I'm so proud of the folks at The Jazz Gallery for being the first in New York City to institute something all clubs should get hip to - providing their musicians with the opportunity to workshop new music in a performance environment. Rehearsing at the Gallery gives you something you'd have difficulty recreating in a rehearsal studio - the warmth of a real performance space. It creates an environment where the musicians feel better, the music grows stronger, and the relationship between musician and club (and audience) takes on a new, relaxed symbiosis. We're all in it together and it feels great to see an organization prove that by their deeds.