The American Music Program (née Pacific Crest Sinfonietta, Cultural Recreation Band) is a youth jazz band in Portland, Oregon founded by jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator Thara Memory. This non-profit youth music program mentors primary school students from 7th-12th grade. On May 9, 2015, the group won Jazz at Lincoln Center's

Essentially Ellington Competition The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is an annual high school jazz festival and competition that takes place every May at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The festival is aimed at encouraging young musician ...

, playing Ellington's ''Tattooed Bride'' from memory.

History

Under the direction of Thara Memory, Greg McKelvey, and Ronnye Harrison the Cultural Recreation Band was founded in 1983. This multicultural performing orchestra served inner city youth primarily in Portland, Oregon's Albina District. Students in the program competed in state and regional jazz band competitions. Expanding its reach throughout Portland's metropolitan area suburbs, the non-profit 501(c)3 Pacific Crest Sinfonietta was founded by Thara Memory and LeAnn Kritz in 2005. Students in the group came from Beaverton's Arts and Communications Magnet Academy as well as Portland's Metropolitan Youth Symphony. The program has since enrolled middle school and high school students throughout the greater Portland metropolitan area. Changing its name to American Music Program, the band has performed in competitions across the country, including the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, the Next Generation Jazz Festival in Monterey, the Charles Mingus Festival and Competition, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Swing Central at the Savannah Music Festival, and locally at events such as the

Mt. Hood Jazz Festival The Mt. Hood Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held in Gresham, Oregon. History Beginning in 1982, the festival took place on the campus of Mt. Hood Community College Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) is a public community college in ...

and the PDX Jazz Forward Competition. American Music Program students have performed with musicians such as Obo Addy,

Bennie Maupin Bennie Maupin (born August 29, 1940) is an American jazz multireedist who performs on various saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet. Biography Maupin was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his participation in Herbie Hancock's Mwandish ...

Chuck Redd Chuck Redd (born September 10, 1958) is an American jazz drummer and vibraphonist. Career Redd began touring and recording when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio at the age of 21. He also joined The Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd, an ...

Curtis Salgado Curtis Salgado (born February 4, 1954, in Everett, Washington, United States) is a Portland, Oregon-based blues, blues rock, and blue-eyed soul singer-songwriter. He plays harmonica and fronts his own band as lead vocalist. Career Salgado ...

Esperanza Spalding Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984), sometimes professionally known with the stylized name of esperanza spalding, is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Aw ...

Terell Stafford Terell Stafford (born November 25, 1966) is a professional jazz trumpet player and current Director of Jazz Studies at the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. Terell Stafford was born in Miami, Florida, and raised in both Ch ...

, and

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

Notable achievements and alumni

Upon high school graduation, AMP alumni have attended colleges such as

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is a Private university, private music school of The New School in New York City. It is located on 13th Street (Manhattan), West 13th Street in the neighborhood of Greenwich Village. It was once known ...

USC Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

, Oberlin College Conservatory, among others. Students in the band have been selected for the Jazz Band of America, The Grammy Band, and The Monterey Next Generation Jazz Band. Youth members have received scholarships to attend the Berklee College of Music's summer programming and the Vail Jazz Workshop. Students in the band have participated in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony,

Portland Youth Philharmonic The Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) is the oldest youth orchestra in the United States, established in 1924 as the Portland Junior Symphony (PJS). Now based in Portland, Oregon, the orchestra's origin dates back to 1910, when music teacher Mary ...

, PDX Jazz Project, and Alan Jones Academy of Music. American Music Program Alumni include

Domo Branch
Charlie Brown III, Hailey Niswanger, Aubrey Cleland, and Patrick Lamb.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:American Music Program Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra American jazz ensembles Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Musical groups established in 2005 2005 establishments in Oregon